ThaiBev puts off Feb 28 shareholder meeting in S'pore on coronavirus worries

CITING the outbreak of a deadly virus that has so far infected 47 people in Singapore, Thai Beverage Public Co (ThaiBev) has cancelled a shareholder meeting that was to have been held on Feb 28, the Mainboard-listed brewer announced on Tuesday.

The 90-minute annual information meeting (AIM), billed as an informal gathering for Singapore shareholders to meet key directors and management, was to have taken place at the InterContinental Hotel in Middle Road, with limited seating on a first come, first served basis.

But in its latest letter, ThaiBev said that it "has decided to adopt the prudent approach of postponing the 2020 AIM to a later date (to be determined), for the safety of all attendees".

Faced with the growing global spread of the respiratory disease that has claimed more than a thousand lives in China, the Singapore government moved the country to Disease Outbreak Response System Condition level "Orange" on Feb 7.

That situation downgrade was soon followed by an advisory for event organisers to cancel or defer non-essential, large-scale events, ThaiBev noted.

The company has now instructed investors not to attend the planned meeting, saying that it will keep a close eye on the situation and will update shareholders when a new date is fixed.

ThaiBev shares closed up S$0.015 or 2 per cent to S$0.765 on Tuesday.