Gulf Development Plc (Gulf), recently established through the merger of Gulf Energy Development Plc and Intouch Holdings Plc, expects bright business prospects, thanks to a better credit rating and continual financial support over the next five years.
The company began trading its shares yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand after the amalgamation of Intouch, the parent of major telecom operator Advanced Info Service (AIS), and Gulf, Thailand's largest power company by market value, was completed on March 31.
Gulf's share price on Thursday closed at 48.75 baht, with the most active trading value worth 4.43 billion baht.
Tris Rating Co, a credit rating agency, this week upgraded the company's corporate credit rating from "A+" to "AA-" and its senior unsecured debentures from "A" to "AA-" with a "stable" outlook, citing the newly merged company's prominent position in the domestic power industry and stable cash flow.
"This will benefit our cash flow and liquidity," said Yupapin Wangviwat, deputy chief executive of Gulf.
The company's business direction is aligned with an investment plan that Gulf announced earlier, she said.
Earlier it disclosed that the company will spend 100 billion baht over the next five years synergising the energy and telecom businesses, as well as developing a data centre facility.
The budget is to be allocated from 2025 to 2029 to restructure energy and telecom businesses, as well as support a plan to ride the trend of data centre and cloud service development, Sarath Ratanavadi, chief executive of Gulf, announced earlier.
Gulf is preparing to open its first data centre by the middle of this year.
The company plans continued expansion of this business, with a goal to increase power demand to 200 megawatts within 2-3 years, Mr Sarath said.
In 2025, Gulf plans to spend 20 billion baht to support ongoing development projects, including rooftop solar panel installation, solar farms and gas-fired power plants.
On its first trading day, no ceiling or floor price limits were applied to Gulf shares to allow the market to determine the price freely. The market capitalisation will be calculated based on the closing price.
At the beginning of the afternoon session yesterday, Gulf's shares were being traded at 49.25 baht, with a trading value of 2.32 billion baht.
The debut occurred in the wake of major challenges faced by Southeast Asia's second-largest economy. It came hours after US President Donald Trump announced America's steepest tariffs in a century -- Thailand was hit with 36% -- roiling global markets. It also came just days after the devastating earthquake that hit Myanmar, which damaged many buildings in Bangkok and is expected to hurt the country's tourism industry.
Gulf operates as a holding company with three core business segments including energy, infrastructure & utilities, and digital business.
According to Bloomberg, Gulf's large cash holdings -- 35 billion baht -- should enable it to expand further as one of the region's largest infrastructure-and-utility players, citing Morgan Stanley.
Its earnings are expected to grow about 20% through to the end of 2027, thanks to its power projects, new infrastructure and the data centre business, according to Morgan Stanley.
According to Kasikorn Securities, Gulf has a strong growth profile from several power plants in the pipeline, while other businesses will boost growth in 2025-27.
The securities house has a positive view of the company's business expansion and estimates an earnings compound annual growth rate of 15% from 2025 to 2027.
Additionally, it expects Gulf earnings to be more stable due to its steady share of profits from major telecom operator AIS, contributing 10-12 billion baht per year from 2025 to 2027.
According to Asia Plus Securities, the post-merger Gulf profit structure consists of 60% from energy and infrastructure, and the balance from digital businesses.
"The company continues to focus on energy but is also expanding into related sectors beyond power plants, such as data centres. The merger is expected to enhance operational efficiency, optimise internal management, and create long-term synergies," said the brokerage.
AIS chief executive Somchai Lertsutiwong said the company benefits from less complex policy management in terms of shareholding structure and greater flexibility since the amalgamation.
