THAI in public offering this month

BANGKOK, 6 September, 2010 – Thai Airways International will make a public offering of up to 1,000 million new shares, 16 t 17 September, at nationwide branches of the Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai Bank, THAI president, Piyasvasti Amranand, announced Friday.

Mr Piyasvastri said the issue would strengthen the airline’s finances and give it flexibility to improve competitiveness through re-fleeting and a retrofit programme for existing aircraft.

When asked if “mixed signals” were being sent to  international investors over a government minister’s response to a decision to  joint venture with Tiger Airways, Mr Piyasvasti said “investors should not believe everything they read in newspapers.”

He suggested a so-called differences of opinion between the Prime Minister and the Minster of Transport over THAI’s decision to invest in the new low-cost airline, Thai Tiger, were exaggerated.

“It will be clear after the PM’s Sunday TV show, when the Minister of Transport and I have an opportunity to explain.”

Local media, he said, played up  apparent discord between the PM and the Minister of Transport for political reasons, but  “we secured  the government’s and board’s backing for the project”.

During his presentation, Mr Piyasvasti focused heavily on the benefits THAI would gain through a partnership with Tiger Airways, claiming it would allow the airline to recover significant market share, both in the domestic and regional networks.

Under the public offering, the Ministry of Finance, the airline’s major shareholder, will retain its 51.03% stake by subscribing to new shares to maintain its status.

Remaining shares will be offered to existing shareholders on the share register book as of 30 August.

The other group of investors includes retail investors who are Thai individuals resident in the country.

The airline and its lead underwriters will determine the final offering 15 September along with the exact number of shares on offer.

It is estimated shares will be sold at around Bt35 each, but the exact price has still to be determined.

The airline also announced Friday that for the first six months of the year it achieved Bt163,875 million revenue and Bt 7,416 million net profit for the same period.

Road shows to publicize the offering were organised in Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Hat Yai and this week similar international road shows are being conducted in London, New York and Hong Kong.