BANGKOK, June 8 (Reuters) - Italian-Thai Development Pcl , Thailand's largest construction firm, said on Wednesday it expected to start to realise revenue from the construction of the Dawei deep-sea port in Myanmar and related infrastructure projects in 2012.
The company would conclude its financing plan for Dawei by the end of this year, and the cost of the basic infrastructure projects could be lower than the earlier estimate of $4 billion, President Premchai Karnasuta told reporters.
"The building costs might decrease due to construction techniques. We will have a conclusion over the next few months," Premchai said.
The company signed an $8 billion contract last November for the port and infrastructure project in Dawei in the Tanintharyi region in Myanmar's south.
The company has set up a unit, Dawei Development Co Ltd, to operate and construct the deep-sea port and related infrastructure.
It expects construction to take five or six years, with another five years to complete the whole project, which covers the deep-sea port, buildings for shipyard and maintenance work, petrochemical industries, a refinery, a steel plant, a power station, road and rail links from Dawei to Bangkok and an oil pipeline running alongside those transport links.
Italian-Thai said it expected lower net profit this year due to expenses related to the Dawei project. It made a profit of 298 million Thai baht ($9.8 million)in 2010.
The company is looking for partners to invest in Dawei Development and expects to sell a 49 percent stake to investors by the end of this year.
Italian-Thai shares were down 2.75 percent at 3.54 baht in late trading on Wednesday, while the main Thai index was down nearly 2 percent. ($1 = 30.270 Thai Baht) (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Arada Kultawanich; Editing by Alan Raybould)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/08/italianthai-idUSL3E7H814R20110608
