March 15--Ticon Logistics Park Co (TPark), a unit of the SET-listed Ticon Industrial Connection, will spend 5.5 billion baht this year to set up two new logistics parks and expand leased warehouse space.
General manager Patan Somburanasin said the company has purchased 80 rai of land at Prachin Buri's Rojana Industrial Estate.
"Prachin Buri has seen high growth, especially in terms of the industrial sector, and there are now five industrial estates in the province," he said.
Honda reportedly will open a factory at Rojana and base its supply chain there, said Mr Patan.
TPark recently paid 2 billion baht for 200 rai in Khon Kaen province for a logistics park and warehouses for lease in the Northeast, a strategic spot along the East-West Economic Corridor.
The project will be completed over the next three years.
TPark is also looking south to Koh Samui, mainland Surat Thani and Phuket while conducting feasibility studies for Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia.
"We've sent a team to scout possible locations and study rules and regulations and hope to make our decision this year," said Mr Patan.
"These countries do not yet have high-quality warehouses, as most of the facilities are old."
TPark will increase warehouse space for lease by 60% to 950,000 square metres, with the budget for business expansion coming from bonds and sales of property to property funds.
Last year, sales of property to property funds totalled 2 billion baht, while rental and service revenue totalled 455 million.
Net profit was 485 million baht, up from 229 million in 2011.
Warehouse space for lease rose by 45% from 2011, a record high in seven years of operation.
As of last year, TPark had 82 customers with accumulated leased warehouse space of 546,753 sq m.
Some 40% of the company's customers are Japanese, such as Denso, Sony, Mitsubishi Motor, NYK and Isuzu.
There were 36 new customers in 2012 leasing total warehouse space of 262,735 sq m including logistics service providers (95,000 sq m ), automotive (85,840 sq m), electronics (52,500 sq m), consumer products (11,660 sq m) and other (17,425 sq m).
At present, TPark has 23 logistics parks covering more than 4,000 rai that can be developed into 2 million sq m of warehouse space.
Of the total, half is already developed, while the rest can last three or four years.
