Singha plans 100b baht property splurge to overcome booze curbs

Bangkok

THAILAND'S biggest beermaker plans to spend about 100 billion baht (S$4 billion) on hotels, shopping centres and property projects over five years as higher taxes and curbs on alcohol marketing erode earnings for the industry.

Singha Estate Pcl, a unit of closely held Boon Rawd Brewery Co, will invest 60 per cent of the budget in commercial property and the remainder to develop residential real estate, chief executive officer Naris Cheyklin said in an interview. The expansion will boost revenue to at least 20 billion baht by 2019 from 362 million baht last year, he said.

The Bhirombhakdi family, who have produced Singha beer at Boon Rawd since 1933, is following the lead of billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who expanded his property business amid government measures to curb alcohol consumption in Buddhist Thailand. Mr Charoen was forced to list his Thai Beverage Pcl unit in S…