Chumpol to end 13-year reign at Siam Cement, Thailand

Siam Cement president Chumpol NaLamlieng said yesterday he would take early retirement at the end of year, bringing to a close his 13 years at the helm of the country’s largest industrial conglomerate.

Siam Cement said its corporate governance and nomination committee, made up of five board members, will start a search for a new president, but it is widely expected that Kan Trakulhoon, who was recently appointed the No 2 man, will be Chumpol’s successor.

Siam Cement, which disclosed a 36 per cent rise in net profit for the first quarter, also introduced Roongrote Rangsiyopash as its new vice president for finance and administration - a position equivalent to chief financial officer (CFO). 

The group attributed the increases to the strong performance of its petrochemical business, whose sales rose from Bt15.4bn to Bt22.6bn and net profit increased from Bt3.26bn to Bt4.89bn during the quarter.

Chumpol said that although operating results in the first quarter were higher than expected, Siam Cement would not yet revise its 10 per cent sales target for the whole year due to many uncertainties lying ahead.

"We expect some businesses to slow down in the following quarters because high oil and energy prices, rising transportation and interest rate costs could cause economic growth to decelerate,"  he said.

However, economic fundamentals were still strong and the group saw no need to adjust its strategies to cope with the expected cooling off.

Chumpol said because of higher production costs Siam Cement would consider whether it needs to adjust cement prices in the second half of this year. The firm commands about 40 per cent of the local cement market.