Thailand: Phatra Securities puts SCC on "buy" list

Siam Cement has announced plans to reduce its holding in Michelin Siam Group from 40 per cent to 10 per cent by offloading to France’s Michelin Group prior to 2008, The Nation reports.

The announcement is in line with the company’s plan to focus on core business and divest non-core business.

The firm has also finalised its plan to invest in a 38-per-cent stake in a joint venture high-density polyethylene (HDPE) project in Iran with an annual capacity of 300,000tpa.

Siam Cement will receive Bt3.3bn in cash from the transactions between 2005 and 2008 with no gains realised in the profit and loss statement. The proceeds will be used to finance its investment in the HDPE project in Iran, which will cost US$225 m (Bt9.15bn) with a debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio of 2.3:1.

Phatra Securities has set a 12-month price objective at Bt310 per share for local shares and Bt340 for foreign shares.