Published on April 25, 2008

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

The Nation

The software firm had delayed the subscription from late last year because of the unsettled PTT case before the Supreme Court. The stock market was under pressure after a group of consumers filed a court case to de-list PTT.

The IPO gives a strong indicator that the IPO market is making a comeback as several companies are also launching IPOs such as Thai Tap Water Supply, Siam Gas and Petrochemical, Premier Marketing, Bangkok Life Assurance, Sabina and Jaymart.

May is the right time to launch an IPO as Esso (Thailand)'s shares will debut on the stock market and that should whet the appetite of investors in IPO shares, Surat Taesriprasert, vice president and head of equity capital market for DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand), said.

DBS Vickers is Asiasoft's financial advisor for the share allocation.

Of the 75 million shares, half will be sold to foreign investors and half to locals. The company's paid up capital will be raised to Bt316 million following the share offering.

Asiasoft CEO Pramoth Sudjitporn said he expected the company's IPO stock to receive a warm welcome from investors as it is engaged in the promising online game industry.

Proceeds from the share allotment will be used to expand the company's presence in overseas markets, particularly in Malaysia and Vietnam, to buy computer systems and to keep working capital in reserve, he said.

The company is a regional online entertainment service provider with operations in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has a dominant 60 per cent market share in Thailand and 70 per cent in Singapore. The company is number two in Malaysia and Vietnam with 21.2 per cent and 15.8 per cent market shares, respectively.

At the end of 2007, the company offered 12 games in the four countries. Maple Story, Audition, Yulgang, Ragnarok and Cabal are among Asiasoft's most popular games.

Asiasoft in 2007 posted a net profit of Bt254 million, a whopping rise of 101.7 per cent from Bt128 million in the previous year.

Pramoth said his company will increase its overseas revenue contribution ratio from 45 per cent last year to 50 per cent in 2008 because of robust growth overseas in the online game market.

In 2009, the overseas proportion will be raised to 55 per cent, he said.

To achieve its goal to become the number one in market share in the region, the company plans to enter Indonesia and the Philippines in two years.

Asiasoft is expected to record 2008 sales revenue of Bt1.5 billion, up 47.4 per cent year-on-year, Pramoth said. "We consider that the overseas online game market has vast room to grow this year and the company has to start to build up its customer base," he said. "Fund raising from the stock market will be used to finance our plan to become the market leader in Malaysia and Vietnam from the second slot at the moment."