Kris: More revenue expected soon

The Narongdej family is fully committed to Raimon Land's (RML) ongoing capital increase, says the company's chairman, noting that the completed and ongoing projects of the listed luxury property developer would generate more than 30 billion baht in revenue over the next 1-3 years.

The developer's ongoing capital increase, which is expected to be completed by October, is going according to plan and complies with the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), said Kris Narongdej, board chairman of Raimon Land.

Woodchester Investing Capital Ltd, an overseas firm established by Mr Kris for investment management purposes, acquired 1.622 billion private placement shares of RML, injecting about 681 million baht into the company.

The Narongdej family now controls about 40% of RML, up from 23.97% previously, after the fresh capital injection, said Mr Kris.

Only the 900 million shares allocated to Patee Sarasin, the company's independent director, remain, valued at 378 million baht.

RML's registered capital is now 7.76 billion baht, of which 5.79 billion baht is paid up.

The delay in completing the full capital increase is primarily due to uncertain market conditions, and shareholders involved in the capital increase therefore require further time to secure the necessary funds, he said. However, management anticipates the offering will be completed by next month, subject to market conditions, financial considerations and relevant factors.

"If there is a snag in the plan, we have prepared a back-up plan," Mr Kris told the Bangkok Post, but declined to give further details.

Mr Kris also brushed aside an accusation by Arthit Narula, who holds 0.34% or 19,527,800 shares of RML, asserting that he sent an email to the SEC and the SET about ongoing irregularities at RML, particularly its failure to raise its registered capital to 7.76 billion baht. The company's management said the minority shareholder made unlawful and false statements.

Mr Kris said Somphote Ahunai, a founder and former chief executive of Energy Absolute, the embattled renewable energy firm, has no involvement in RML's capitalisation.

In addition, the adjusted timeline of the offering does not adversely impact its ongoing operations or business, he said.

With a total asset value of 7.5 billion baht, Raimon Land's debt-to-equity ratio of less than 1 is pretty low when compared with other property developers, said Mr Kris.

Earlier this week the company announced a 100% unit transfer at The Estelle Phrom Phong, the 5-billion-baht 146-unit luxury condo in central Sukhumvit. The 4.4-billion-baht Tait Sathorn 12 luxury condo project is expected to complete transfers in the fourth quarter of this year.

One City Centre, the tallest luxury office building in Thailand, has an occupancy rate of 72%.

Projects in the company's pipeline include the 528 estate, the 4-billion-baht villas on Sukhumvit Soi 28; the S38 Luxury Residence with a total project value of 6 billion baht; Kamala Estate villas in Phuket worth 3.4 billion baht; and the 3.5-billion-baht Pattaya mixed-use hotel and condo project in Chon Buri.

Raimon Land's existing land plots in Bangkok, Chon Buri and Phuket are worth roughly 6.7 billion baht, said Mr Kris.

Mr Kris, Mr Patee, and John Tay, the Singapore-based representative of RML shareholder Mesa Thai Pte, stated Mr Arthit's statement was "groundless" and misrepresented the facts. They said his information about the capital increase was falsely reported by local media.