National oil and gas firm PTT aims to start up its new PTTOR subsidiary on July 1, with a stock listing planned for later
Company targeted as PTT’s sixth subsidiary to list on Thai bourse
SET-listed PTT Plc, the national oil and gas conglomerate, is scheduled to operate its new, wholly owned subsidiary, PTT Oil and Retail Co (PTTOR), from July 1. PTTOR is targeted to list on the stock exchange next year.
Autthopol Rekpiboon, PTT’s senior executive vice-president for oil business, said that an asset transfer from PTT to PTTOR will begin at the same time the subsidiary begins operations.
Approval from the Public-Private Partnership Committee, to comply with the Private Investment in State Undertakings Act, will also be finished by the third quarter.
Mr Autthopol said that once the assets have been transferred, the financial adviser auction will be conducted to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO).
He said several land rental contracts to be transferred from PTT to PTTOR were done with state agencies, and their transference therefore had to be conducted in accordance with the Private Investment in State Undertakings Acts.
More than 200 petrol stations located on leased land plots form the bulk of the assets that will be transferred to PTTOR.
PTT’s shareholders have approved the transfer of 122 billion baht in assets to PTTOR.
PTTOR is expected to be PTT’s sixth core business to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, after PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical, Thai Oil, IRPC and Global Power Synergy.
PTTOR’s assets include fuel and non-oil subsidiaries in Thailand and abroad, pipelines and jet fuel services, cooking gas, lube oil, and some cooking gas depots.
International oil trading units and some cooking gas depots will remain under PTT.
PTTOR has registered capital of 8.78 billion baht, with a par value of 100 baht per share. The company will consider increasing its registered capital after the asset transfer is completed.
PTT will maintain its majority ownership in PTTOR with a 45-49% stake, while the rest will be floated through the IPO.
PTTOR plans to increase its number of petrol stations from 1,500 to 1,800 by 2021.
PTTOR also plans to have 500 petrol stations in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the Philippines by 2020, up from 170 at present.
Other aspects of the company’s non-oil business, including Jiffy Minimart and Amazon Cafe, will be expanded at home and abroad.
The company aims to operate 2,700 Amazon Cafes by 2020, both stand-alone units and coffee shops located at petrol stations.
For lube products, PTTOR plans to source raw materials from China and India for the PTT brand by setting up production hubs in those countries.
PTTOR reported total sales last year of 484 billion baht, down from 511 billion baht in the previous year, while net profit rose to 16.1 billion from 9.9 billion.
In related news, PTT has teamed up with Kasikorn Bank to launch an e-wallet programme to support the cashless society trend.
PTT expects cashless payments at PTT’s petrol stations to account for 40% of total retail fuel sales by 2020, up from 30%.
PTT shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 50 baht, down one baht, in trade worth 7.7 billion baht.