NAWARAT Patanakarn, one of Thailand’s top five construction companies, has set a budget of more than Bt500 million to invest in Asean, mostly in pre-cast concrete production and infrastructure projects in Myanmar this year.
“The company reached an agreement to form a joint venture with a local partner in Myanmar, and expects the factory to start operations within this year,” president Polpat Karnasuta said yesterday.
The pre-cast concrete products made at the new facility – focused on flooring, fencing and foundation piling – will mainly be used for general construction such as houses, small buildings and electricity poles, he said.
In addition, the listed company is conducting a feasibility study on whether to invest in the hotel business in Myanmar, for which it expects to complete a joint-venture deal with a local firm there by the end of this year, Polpat said.
Nawarat Patanakarn is also eyeing participation in infrastructure projects in the neighbouring country, he added.
Meanwhile, the company’s Bt600-million pre-cast-concrete factory in Chon Buri – the Kingdom’s first for manufacturing such products for large-scale construction work – is now ready to commence operations. The factory has a production capacity of 10,000 cubic metres a month, adding to Nawarat’s total monthly pre-cast-concrete production of 15,000 cubic metres.
However, Polpat said the company’s plant at Bang Na-Trat Kilometre 4.7, one of its four current production facilities, would be shut down soon and the 20-rai (3.2-hectare) plot turned over to office buildings.
As for the company’s domestic property business, he said it still had revenue to be gradually realised from the development of projects under its own operations, as well via a joint venture and subsidiary.
These are the Bt2.7-billion high-end condominium The Issara Ladprao, the Bt1.9-billion ISSI Condo Suksawat, the Bt90-million Baranee Park Romklao detached-housing project, and the Bt780-million Aspen Condo Lasalle.
The latter two projects have been 20 per cent and 60 per cent sold respectively and are expected to be booked as revenue in the next quarter, said Pasan Swasdiburi, senior vice president for new business and the company’s strategic planning department.
For this year, the executive said Nawarat Patanakarn would during the current quarter launch a Bt800-million detached-housing project, the Baranee Residence on Rangsit Klong 3 Road, as well as a new phase of the fully furnished Baranee Park Romklao detached-housing development in the third quarter.
Moreover, the Aspen Condo Lasalle will launch a new 398-unit phase in the final quarter. Last year, the company realised more than Bt7.6 billion in profits, of which 94 per cent was from construction business and the remainder from property and services, Polpat said.
Nawarat Patanakarn is still focusing on civil-engineering works, especially those with complex requirements, such as power plants and ports, he added. It is also trying to balance work from both the government and private sectors, with sales from these sources split 60:40 at present, he explained.
The company’s gross profit margin is currently about 6-8 per cent.
“The company’s backlog is now Bt13 billion, which is expected to rise to Bt40 billion by the end of this year,” Polpat said.
“The company’s backlog is now Bt13 billion and we expect to have more work in the pipeline worth Bt40 billion this year, of which we target a 10-per-cent share,” Polpot said, adding that annual revenue in five years’ time was expected to reach Bt10 billion.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Nawarat-Patanakarn-plans-pre-cast-factory-in-Myanm-30287106.html
