BECL SAYS TRAFFIC VOLUME STAGNANT

       Bangkok Expressway (BECL), the country's biggest private toll road operator, expects zero growth in traffic volume this year as the world oil price remains sensitive to demand.
       Panan Tosuwanthaworn, BECL senior managing director for finance, said yesterday that the company expects no growth this year in its traffic volume of 924,000 vehicles daily.
       However, the toll revenue for the year is expected to record a 6-per-cent growth.
       BECL reported traffic volume of 934,647 vehicles and toll revenue of Bt20.50 million daily in the first half of this year, a 9.28-per-cent growth on year to Bt3.71 billion. Net profit in the first half surged 38.96 per cent on year to Bt881 million. Earnings per share were Bt1.14.
       "The actual figures are near our targets," said Panan.
       She said the company's revenue grew nearly 10 per cent in the first half while the target for the whole year is 6 per cent growth. The company increased its toll rate for the expressway system by Bt5 in September last year.
       Panan said the average traffic volume in the suburban sector grew higher than the urban sector. He added that this was not a significant income contribution to the company as the toll rate of the suburban sector (Bt10 to Bt15 per car) is lower than that of the urban sector (around Bt45 per car).
       Of the total revenue, about 67 per cent came from the urban sector with the suburban sector contributing the balance 23 per cent.
       To ensure toll revenue covers its debt repayment totalling Bt22.69 billion, Panan said BECL closely monitors interest rate movement all the time. The company's debt-service-coverage ratio as of June 30 was 1.57 times.
       "If the interest rate tends to move down, the company might raise more funds via debentures but with coupon rate of not more than 5 per cent annually," she said.
       Recently, BECL issued two tranches of debentures amounting to Bt2 billion. The first Bt1-billion tranche, with a maturity of three and a half years and coupon rate of 4.1 per cent annually, was offered to private investors. The Bt1-billion second tranche, which has a four-year maturity, was offered to public investors with a coupon rate of 4.2 per cent annually.