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1. What are the lines of business of the Thai Beverage Plc ? |
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ThaiBev is the leading producer of beer and spirits in Thailand, and one of the leading brewers and distillers in Southeast Asia. The Group comprises total of 99 companies (Last Updated 2 February 2010). The main line of business is production and the marketing of alcoholic beverages. The Company has expanded into non-alcoholic beverage. In addition, there are also companies that conduct other related businesses. |
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2. What products does ThaiBev sell ? |
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ThaiBev's products are divided into four main types – Beer, Spirits (such as rum and whiskey), Non-Alcoholic Products (such as drinking water, soda and non-carbonated soft drinks) and products from related business
ThaiBev's signature product is Chang beer, the most popular beer in Thailand. The newcomer, Archa Beer, is also popular among the younger generation.
ThaiBev also sells Sangsom, an award-winning rum, and Mekhong rum, both of which are very popular among Thai drinkers.
Apart from beverages, ThaiBev has related businesses that sell supplementary food for animals and low-density bricks made from the waste products of our brewing and distilling processes.
You can see the range of our products by visiting
www.thaibev.com/th08/product.aspx?sublv1gID=11
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3. Where does ThaiBev operate ? |
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ThaiBev's primary operations are in Thailand. ThaiBev also has various interests outside Thailand, such as in Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Malaysia, Cambodia and USA. |
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4. What is ThaiBev’s expansion strategy ? |
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ThaiBev is embarking on a premiumisation strategy, rolling out products that command higher margins. For example, ThaiBev recently took advantage of the fast-growing segment in the market for lower-alcohol beer and launched Chang Light.
At the same time, the Company is on the lookout for opportunities and will tie up with overseas partners who have the right fit.
On 4 July 2007, ThaiBev launched Chang Beer in the United States. The initial plan focuses on 5,000 Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Asian-Fusion restaurants in the US, one of the world's largest markets for beer. Thaibev targets several key states in the US, including New York's metropolitan area and California. ThaiBev anticipates gaining distribution through some 40%-50% of these restaurants during the first year. |
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5. What is the total employee headcount for the company ? |
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The company currently employs approximately 26,000 staff. |
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6. Who is on the Board of Directors ? |
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7. How does ThaiBev support various kinds of sports ? |
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ThaiBev fully supports sport activities in order to help develop Thai athletes and sportsmen and women to attain international standards. Various sports that ThaiBev supports are: football, volleyball, boxing, bicycling, snooker and billiards, swimming, athletics, table-tennis, tennis, gymnastics, Taekwando, boat racing, and chess. |
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8. What are ThaiBev’s social contributions ? |
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ThaiBev is determined to play a role in improving the living condition of Thais. Activities such as the distribution of blankets in the project "Thaibev Unites to Fight the Cold" have now entered the sixth year. It distributed 1.2 million blankets in 2005. In addition, ThaiBev contributes to the causes of arts and culture, health care and education, the conservation of wild elephants, as well as helping domesticated elephants. Moreover, following national disasters, such as tsunami, or floods, ThaiBev has always been among the first organizations to reach out and render assistance to victims. |
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9. Can you tell us the impact of new Alcohol Control Bill ? |
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Some key details of the act can be summarized as follows:
- Alcohol may not be sold or consumed in temples, religious places, health-related sites, petrol station or shops nearby, and public parks. Neither may alcohol be sold at government sites, hostels and educational institutions.
- It is forbidden to sell alcohol using automatic vending machines, by hawking or to offer discounts to promote sales.
- No gifts, rewards or prizes may be provided.
- Alcoholic drinks may not be offered to try or to impose any conditions that oblige the purchase of alcohol.
- It is now forbidden to sell alcoholic drinks to anyone under 20 years old.
- It is forbidden to advertise alcoholic beverages directly or show the drinking of alcohol.
- Advertising and PR limiting to information on social contributions, without any appearance of products or package, is allowed.
- Symbol or logo of the drink or company’s logo are allowed in advertising.
- Advertisements originating outside Thailand, e.g. shirt sponsorship of Everton FC, will not be affected by the regulations.
- ThaiBev believes that while there will be some effect on promotional activities, the company’s extensive distribution network mitigates the loss of some other marketing tools. |
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10. Do you expect an increase in raw material costs ? |
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We see a rise in malt, hops, and rice prices. As we did enter long term agreements with malt and hops suppliers, the raw material cost rise is manageable for us. |
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11. Can you tell more about your new premium products ? |
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We have already launched new premium beer called “Federbrau”, positioned the same as Heineken. We have also launched a new scotch whiskey, made by Inver House, called “Drummer”. |
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12. Have you acquired Oishi yet ? |
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13. What is the progress of the Oishi deal ? |
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ThaiBev bought 43.9% the Oishi Group Plc on September 30, 2008. Following a tender offer to shareholders made on October 10 to November 18, 2008, ThaiBev became the owner of 89.9% of the shares. |
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1. How much does ThaiBev expect Oishi to add to its bottom line ? |
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ThaiBev will not comment on how much Oishi will add to the bottom line as this depends on Oishi’s performance after purchase. |
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2. Is it true you disposed of your industrial alcohol company, Thai Alcohol ? |
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Yes, ThaiBev disposed of 100% of Thai Alcohol. |
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3. What is the selling price ? |
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The amount agreed is Baht 1,590.95 billion. |
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4. Is this a related party transaction ? |
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Yes, ThaiBev’s principle shareholder has agreed to make the acquisition. |
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5. Why did you dispose of Thai Alcohol ? |
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The reason for the disposal is the continuous losses of Thai Alcohol and the amount of investment required to turn the company around – investment that ThaiBev would prefer to make in its core business only |
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6. How did you arrive at the valuations of Oishi and Thai Alcohol ? |
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In both cases, an independent valuation company was hired. The SGX has
reviewed all information to be provided to shareholders at the EGM. |
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1. Which year was ThaiBev listed and on which stock exchange ? |
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ThaiBev was listed on 30 May 2006 on the Singapore Exchange Main Board. |
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2. What was the share price at the time of listing ? |
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The final offering price of Thaibev's share at the IPO time is S$0.28 per share. |
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3. Who are the substantial shareholders of ThaiBev ? |
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Khun Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, including his spouse and associated companies. |
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4. Does ThaiBev have a formalized dividend policy ? |
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The current policy of the Board of Director is to recommend to our shareholders a dividend of not less than 50% of net profit after the deduction of all specified reserves, subject to our investment plans and as the Board of Director deems appropriate. |
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5. What is ThaiBev’s dividend history ? |
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ThaiBev pays dividend twice a year – in September (interim) and May (final). On August 14, 2008, the Company declared interim dividend of Baht 0.12 per share for the first half of 2008 representing a 60% payout ratio. |
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1. How does ThaiBev handle investor relations ? |
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ThaiBev is firmly committed to its investors and believes in treating all investors equally, regardless of whether they have large or small shareholdings.
All announcements and documents are publicly available on the SGX website at www.sgx.com (click on 'Listed Companies' and then on 'Announcements') and on the ThaiBev website at www.thaibev.com In a new initiative, our website is being duplicated in a PDA readable format so that it can be read from a mobile phone, thus enhancing the accessibility of the information. |
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2. Who is the company’s point of contact for investor relations ? |
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You may contact Richard Jones, Head of Investor Relations in Thailand via email at richard.j@thaibev.com or contact our consultants Gavin Anderson & Company in Singapore at +65 6339 9110 should you need more information about ThaiBev. |
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3. When is ThaiBev’s financial year-end ? |
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ThaiBev’s financial year ends on 31 December. |
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4. Where can I get a copy of the annual report ? |
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The latest annual report can be found on both www.thaibev.com and on www.sgx.com
You can also contact Gavin Anderson & Company at +65 6339 9110 for a hard copy of the annual report. |
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5. Where can I find ThaiBev’s financial information and reports ? |
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All public financial information and related interim reports are available on www.thaibev.com and www.sgx.com |
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6. How does ThaiBev communicate with retail investors ? |
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ThaiBev engages retail investors on several fronts. Listed below are some of our initiatives.
- ThaiBev arrange a quarterly results conference call and broadcast via our website, so that investors can listen to the results announcement and Q&A session. The link and instructions for the webcast will be available on our website around one week before the result release.
- The ThaiBev management team travels to Singapore for mid-year and end-of-year results discussions, following the announcement of the results via SGXNet. In this way, investors have an avenue to discuss and ask questions about the operations of the company, as well as provide useful feedback to us. For instance, during one meeting with retail shareholders in early 2007, we were advised to do more in Singapore to grow awareness of the brand. This sound advice was noted and has led to an advertising campaign using bus ads around the city.
- Retail investors are invited for ThaiBev events in Singapore, such as the anniversary party of the IPO held at the Intercontinental Hotel in June 2007.
- ThaiBev also produces a bimonthly investor newsletter, which is available on the website at www.thaibev.com
[This newsletter is also sent to all subscribers of the Thai Beverage Information Service
Investors are invited to sign up at www.thaibev.com and click on the Info Request menu for the Thai Beverage Information Service, where all announcements from the company will be disseminated to you via email.
Investors are invited to provide feedback to us. You may contact Richard Jones, Head of Investor Relations in Thailand via email at richard.j@thaibev.com or contact our consultants Gavin Anderson & Company in Singapore at +65 6339 9110 should you need more information about ThaiBev. |
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7. Do you offer visits to the production facilities for retail investors ? |
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Yes, we plan to organize a visit to our Kamphaengphet brewery for retail investors, on an annual basis. Investors will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation arrangements and costs to Bangkok, and we will pick up investors from hotels in the city centre, after which they will be ferried by bus to Kamphaengphet to see the brewery, as well as to meet the people behind the production of Thailand's best selling Chang Beer. Details of the next visit will be announced at our website at www.thaibev.com |
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1. When is the company’s next results briefing ? |
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ThaiBev will announce its next results within 45 days of an interim period and 60 days after the end of the year. Please refer to http://www.sgx.com/ for updates (click on 'Listed Companies' and then on 'Announcements').
Please note that the results conference calls are open to all investors. Details of these calls are usually posted around one week in advance on http://www.sgx.com/ (click on 'Listed Companies' and then on 'Announcements'). |
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2. When and where will the next Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) be ? |
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Our Board of Directors will convene an annual general meeting of shareholders within four months from the last day of our fiscal year. Our recent 2008 AGM was held on April 28, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
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3. How may Singapore Shareholders vote at a Meeting of Shareholders of Thai Beverage Plc ? |
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Under applicable Thai laws, all general and extraordinary meetings of shareholders shall be held in Thailand. Investors who hold shares (including Singapore investors) through the Central Depository (Pte) Ltd., or CDP, in Singapore may instruct the CDP to exercise voting rights for their shares in accordance with the terms and conditions for the operation of securities accounts with the CDP. However, under Thai law, the CDP will be the only holder of record of these shares and accordingly the only person or entity recognized as a shareholder and legally entitled to vote on any matter to be submitted to the vote of our shareholders as a general or extraordinary meeting of shareholders.
To ensure all shareholders have the right to vote on resolutions of shareholders’ meetings, ThaiBev arranges for Voting Instruction Forms (VIF) to be sent to everyone holding shares in ThaiBev through a CDP account. Through the VIF, shareholders can instruct the CDP how to vote on their behalf. The CDP may split its vote on each resolution to ensure that all voters’ instructions are implemented. The VIF must be filled in and returned to the CDP before the final date specified by the CDP. |
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4. How may shareholders whose shares are held by the CDP attend shareholders meetings in Thailand ? |
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If any investor wishes to attend a shareholders’ meeting in Thailand personally, their shares held by the CDP must be transferred to register in their name with the Thailand Securities Depository (TSD) in Thailand, for which they must pay stamp duty of 0.001%1 of the value of the shares on that date2 . This process may take from two to three weeks and must be completed before ThaiBev closes its share register. The book closure date is usually announced two weeks in advance. If, after the shareholders’ meeting the shareholder wishes to transfer the shares back to the CDP, in order to trade them in future, the transfer will require another payment of stamp duty of 0.1% of the value of the shares and may take two or three weeks to complete.
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Note |
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1.Every Baht 1,000 shall be paid for stamp duty of Baht 1. |
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2.We understand that there will be duty and fees charged under Singapore laws, such as stamp duty and a withdrawal fee. |
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5. If I cannot travel to Thailand for the AGM, are there other avenues to express my opinions ? |
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ThaiBev IR makes regular visits to Singapore. Whenever we hold a retail investor meeting, you are encouraged to tell us of your concerns and wishes so that they can be passed on to management and the Board of Directors. ThaiBev strongly encourages Singapore investors to fill in the voting instruction form (VIF) that they will receive prior to every AGM or other shareholder meeting, and send it to the CDP for action.
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