PTT Plc, Thailand’s state-run oil and gas conglomerate, has set an ambitious target to increase its revenue from overseas investment from nearly Bt3 trillion to Bt4-5 trillion in the next five years, a company director said today.
Prasert Bunsumpun, concurrently chairman of PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), a PTT subsidiary, said the group has eyed investing abroad at 50 percent of total investment in the next five years, while revenue from overseas investment should surge from 20-30 percent to 50 percent in the next decade.
Though PTT has lowered its investment by Bt46 billion from a total investment of Bt100 billion this year, the five-year investment goal of Bt366 billion will remain unchanged, but the organizational strategy must be adjusted in accord with the global economy, he said.
He said PTT has not given up its study on merging IRPC, Thailand’s fourth-biggest petrochemical company, and PTTGC, the country’s biggest chemicals company by market value, both listed in the Thai stock market, but the move must be made at the right time.
IRPC’s oil refinery capability at 70-80 percent will run full steam in 2015 when its Phoenix Project, involving an investment of more than Bt40 billion, will be completed, Prasert said.
Regarding the US Federal Reserve’s withdrawal of economic stimulus through quantitative easing (QE) late this year, the former PTT president said the move will not severely affect oil prices which should be at around US$100 per barrel but it will have an impact on liquidity in many countries due to capital outflows.
PTT chief financial officer Surong Bulakul said PTT will not issue debentures in overseas markets this year but it will issue Bt10 billion in debentures in the domestic market to pay its loans.
Its baht-nominated borrowing portfolio has been increased to 70 percent to minimize foreign exchange risks and create a balanced revenue which involves baht and foreign currencies, he said.
