Thailand’s Bangchak to list renewable power unit in Sept-Oct

Thailand’s second-largest oil retailer, Bangchak Petroleum Pcl, plans to list shares of its renewable power unit BCPG on the Stock Exchange of Thailand during September and October, a top executive said on Tuesday.Bangchak will offer up to 600 million new shares, or a stake of 30 percent, to the public, and the stock market regulator has approved the listing plan, President Chaiwat Kovavisarach told reporters. He gave no details about the value of the IPO.

BCPG operates solar power plants with a total capacity of 118 megawatts (MW) in Thailand and 164 MW in Japan. The company has said it aims to boost total capacity to 500 MW in 2020.The company plans to hold a roadshow to promote the IPO later this month, one of its financial advisers told Reuters on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak to the media.Bangchak has diversified into the renewable business, including biofuel and solar power and exploration and production, in the last few years to help minimise risk from the refinery sector.

Solar power contributed about a third of its core earnings last year.

Bangchak aims to boost its market share of 14.8 percent to 15 percent this year when retail sales are expected to rise 11 percent to 12 percent, to 300 million to 320 million litres a month, Chaiwat said.Bangchak’s 120,000-barrel-per-day refinery ran at 110,000 bpd in the first half, and its run rate will stay at that level for the whole of 2016, Chaiwat said, adding that its refining margin this year would be around $6 to $7 a barrel. ($1=34.77 baht) (Reporting by Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Source:Reuters