KTB Securities Thailand (KTBST) plans to launch an IPO in January 2019 on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and expand business operations to cover fund management by early next year.
Win: Listing to raise stakeholder confidence
The company is considering floating 16 million shares, with a par value of 10 baht each, and expects to raise funds of about 200 million baht.
KTBST has appointed Asset Pro Management as financial adviser.
"We don't need to raise huge funds because the company has continued to record net profit for over three years," said KTBST executive chairman Win Udomrachtavanich. "But being a listed company will help increase stakeholders and partners will have greater confidence when doing business with us."
"We have a plan to expand our business operations into neighbouring countries, and Bangkok will be our regional headquarters."
Mr Win first invested in KTBST by purchasing a 25% stake in March 2016 from South Korea-based KTB Investment Securities, which was followed by increases in paid-up capital to 555 million baht from 500 million at year-end 2017, augmenting his shareholding portion to 31%.
Mr Win has reduced his shareholding to 13.7% by transferring some shares to his creditors.
He said he will maintain his 13.7% stake after the IPO launch, while KTB Investment Securities has yet to consider whether it will reduce its shareholding or maintain its portion after the IPO.
KTBST is unique when compared with other domestic securities firms, allowing investors to invest in many types of products, such as domestic equities, offshore equities, structured notes as well as fixed income and mutual funds through a single account, and use the accounts to trade every investment asset available.
KTBST also offers an algorithmic trading platform and robo-trading, said Mr Win.
The company wants to expand to two affiliates by requesting permission to establish an asset management company, We Asset Management Co Ltd, in May 2019.
KTBST received a certificate from the Securities and Exchange Commission last month and the company plans to begin fund management at the beginning of 2019.
The company is in the process of obtaining a licence to operate trust and real estate investment trust management to establish a company named KTBST REIT Management Co Ltd, which is expected to receive permission and launch the business this month.
For the brokerage business, retail trading is expected to experience higher competition next year as retail investors are poised to reduce equity investment in their portfolios because of concerns over the Sino-US trade disputes, geopolitical conflicts and interest rate hike pressure, Mr Win said.
Given this outlook, KTBST will shift its focus towards increasing trade volume from institutional and foreign investors, he said.
The company's total revenue logged 1.07 billion baht as of Nov 30, up 30% year-on-year.
Commission fees from securities trading agents contributed 50% of total revenue, while 34% was derived from other service businesses such as financial consultants, mutual fund sales agents and private fund services.
The rest came from interest, dividends and interest received from margin loans.