Natural Park awaits court ruling on debt

Natural Park Plc (N-PARK) is waiting for an appeal court ruling, expected within six months, before opening a jointventure opportunity to foreign investors, says president and chief executive Sermsin Samalapa.
The case in which judgement is expected first concerns ACL Bank, a creditor for 741.40 million baht. Natural Park lost this case in the court of first instance.
“If we win this case, it may be relevant for the next cases we have,” Mr Sermsin said yesterday at the annual general shareholders’ meeting. “But if we lose, we will enter a debt-negotiation process with the creditors.”
At the end of 2009, the company had lost four cases and needed to reserve a total of 1.14 billion baht. It also has another case, for which testimony is being heard, that may require additional reserves of 520 million baht.
If the company loses all the cases, its payments could exceed the amount of the company’s assets before its new management took over, said Mr Sermsin.
He said that overseas investors were keen to establish joint ventures or to become major shareholders but they were waiting for the company to clear all the cases.
“We continue solving the problems,” said Mr Sermsin. “But our future depends on the judgement.”
Last month, Natural Park sold Novotel Beach Resort Panwa Phuket to Ton Vassana Co Ltd for 870 million baht. Ton Vassana Co was established on Sept 3 last year with 1 million baht in registered capital.
The buyer paid 200 million baht in cash, with the remaining 670 million baht considered as fully repaying the principal, accrued interest and other amounts outstanding under the debentures.
Mr Sermsin said profit from selling the hotel amounted to 230 million baht, which would be booked in the first quarter of 2010.
By late March, Natural Park had spent 210 million baht to help increase the registered capital of Kempin Siam Co Ltd, the owner of five-star hotel Siam Kempinski, by 600 million baht, taking it from 1.54 billion baht to 2.14 billion.
N-PARK currently holds 35% in Kempin Siam Co while 16% is held by Royal Wealth Holdings and 49% by the Bahrain investor Al Manar Ltd.
The hotel, which is located behind Siam Paragon, is scheduled to open in May and be operated by Kempinski, a hotel chain 90% owned by Crown Property Bureau, said Mr Sermsin.
“We are revising an occupancy target as hotel business now is bad,” he said. Formerly, the company expected to have an occupancy rate of 60% by the end of the year. Its bookings have now been cancelled due to red-shirt demonstrations at the Ratchaprasong intersection.
Mr Sermsin said the company’s plan to develop the luxurious Amanresort Bangkok hotel on Charoen Krung Road by the Chao Phraya River was on hold as residents are still living in the area where the hotel is due to be developed.
“We asked the Treasury Department to move out the residents and to extend the contract for another two years,” he said. The company has spent about 300 million baht on this project.
N-PARK shares closed yesterday at 2 satang, down 1 satang, in trade worth 2.49 million baht.
Source : bangkokpost.com