Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

Snippets #8: Syrian Tensions, PTT's New IPO!

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Energy Vs Airlines

Snippets #7: The End of Digital Banking Fees

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Equity Bottom-Up

Today, we met two very different companies, namely Bangkok Air, a boutique carrier owned by healthcare tycoon Dr. Prasert, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/20108" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20108:1">Cho Thavee Dollasien (CHO TB)</a>, a logistics company which is well=versed in lawsuit, having won a big settlement from Banpu in Laos over the Hongsa power plant earlier this year.Four main key takeaways from the meetings includes:<ul>
<li>Bangkok Airways is still struggling due to high fuel costs, which accounts for 17% of their cost. They lost Bt82m in Q2'18. It's an improvement from Bt521m in Q2'17, but it could take another two quarter to breakeven.</li>
<li>The airline appears to be doing better on non-core businesses, such as catering, ground services, and airports. There's nice dividend streams from BDMS and BAFS too.</li>
<li>BA is currently bidding against King Power tycoon Vichai for Duty Free concession in the main Suvanabhumi Airport. They already have experience in their own Samui airports.</li>
<li>
CHO couldn't post profit growth despite its 50% revenue growth. They've raised a lot of money from Macquarie via private placements.</li>
</ul>

Today, we met two very different companies, namely Bangkok Air, a boutique carrier owned by healthcare tycoon Dr. Prasert, and Cho Thavee Dollasien (CHO TB), a logistics company which is well=versed in lawsuit, having won a big settlement from Banpu in Laos over the Hongsa power plant earlier this year.Four main key takeaways from the meetings includes:
Bangkok Airways is still struggling due to high fuel costs, which accounts for 17% of their cost. They lost Bt82m in Q2'18. It's an improvement from Bt521m in Q2'17, but it could take another two quarter to breakeven.
The airline appears to be doing better on non-core businesses, such as catering, ground services, and airports. There's nice dividend streams from BDMS and BAFS too.
BA is currently bidding against King Power tycoon Vichai for Duty Free concession in the main Suvanabhumi Airport. They already have experience in their own Samui airports.

CHO couldn't post profit growth despite its 50% revenue growth. They've raised a lot of money from Macquarie via private placements.


Bangkok Airways

Bangkok Air: More Turbulence Ahead