Bangkok--Nov 23--Kim Eng
Interhides Public Company Limited (IHL), a leading Second Tier Original Equipment Manufacturer (2nd OEM) supplier and manufacturer of car seat leather for Automotive industry, appointed Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) PLC. as the financial advisor and the lead underwriter for its Initial Public Offering.
Mr. Ongart Thumrongsakunvong, the Managing Director of the Company, announced that the Company was established in 1992 as the tannery factory to produce leather for furniture goods. The Company found an opportunity in automotive leather and began to develop automotive leather. During the year 2000, the Company decided to concentrate only on automotive leathers. The Company’s production starts from tannery process to produce leather for the automobile such as car seats, steering wheels, gear knobs and others. The Company’s product lines can be broken down into 4 groups as follows:
1. Leather to be used as raw material for car seat maker
2. Leather cut parts for car seat, steering wheel and gear knob etc.
3. Sewing services for car seat, steering wheel, and gear knob
4. Car seat replacement
The Company’s products received ISO/TS 16949:2002, from TUV Rheinland Group institution, Germany, a certificate that is well accepted by the automotive industry. By receiving the certificate, the Company is received much trust from most leading carmakers, such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, Misubishi, Isuzu, Mazda, Subaru etc., and allow the Company to offer its leather products to both domestic and foreign market. In the planning process of each car model, the Company will work closely with the carmakers especially in production development to ensure the quality standard of the products. The Company always focuses on service and just in time deliver to fulfill its customer’s requirement. For the automotive industry, the orders from each carmaker usually take as long as the car model life, which usually lasts for 4-8 years. Currently, the Company produces car seat leathers for 8 major companies with more than 30 models such as Toyota Camry, Toyota Fortuner, Nissan Neo, Nissan Frontier, Honda Civic, Ford Escape, Ford Tiera, Ford Focus and Mazda 3 with its existing capacity as much as 12 million square feets or estimated around 360,000 pieces per year
Automotive industry is a sector, which Thai government has a policy to support. The sector had proved strong production capability among ASEAN countries with the export value of more than Baht 149,232 million. The Thai Automotive Institution estimated the car production in Thailand in 2005 is as high as 1.1 million car or a growth of more than 26%, which separated into domestic production of 680,000 cars or 10% growth and export market of 500,000 cars or 50% growth. Within the next five years, Thai Automotive Institution estimated the car production to reach 1.8 million cars. The automotive industry believes to continue to have a strong growth as Thai government aims to push Thailand as “Detroit of Asia”. Many carmakers have plans to invest their production facilities in Thailand such as Toyota who plans to establish Research and development center in Thailand. This center will concentrate on human resource development to support future growth of the automotive industry, which will strengthen Thailand to have a competitive advantage over other countries in the region. Moreover, the current consumer behavior, which moving toward leather car seat compared to fabric car seat, will benefit the Company in the long run.
Mr. Montree Sornpaisarn, the Chief Executive Officer of Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) Plc., acting as the financial advisor and the lead underwriter, said that IHL will be an attractive stock as the Company is a leading car seat leather producer in Thailand. Moreover, IHL’s management team has more than 30-year experience in tannery business. Moreover, the Company received great support by Sumitomo group as a strategic partner. Sumitomo group plays an important role in supporting Thailand to be a center in automotive parts production and export to other countries. The group is also a main supporter for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Thailand and Japan. With the bright prospect from growing automotive industry, the Company ‘s revenue jumped from Baht 471 million in 2003 to Baht 648 million in 2004, or 37.60% growth. The revenue as of 9M/2005 also grow from Baht 689 million or 46% growth compared to the same period of last year. The net profit in 2004 and 9M/2005 are Baht 39 million and Baht 94 million, respectively. Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) PLC. is confident in the experience of IHL’s management team and believes that the Company will be an attractive stock for the public. The Company is expected to offer its shares to the Public around December.
Corporate Communication department of Kim Eng Securities (Thailand)
TEL. 02-658-6300 Ext 5180 , 7401 ,7402 , 7403 End.