The share price of True Corporation Public Company Limited (SET: TRUE) fell more than 6% to trade at THB5.65 per share on Wednesday in response to a negative sentiment after the company was unable to sell all of its debentures on November 7.
Maybank Securities (Thailand) (MST) stated that TRUE sold bonds worth THB12.3 billion, which was lower than the planned amount of THB18 billion, comprising THB14 billion target and THB4 billion greenshoe.
MST noted that the shortfall could be due to i) poor market condition and ii) negative litigation news in late-October. However, this may not impact TRUE much as it can find other funding sources, such as domestic bank loans.
Still, the report of missing expectations of bond sales is negative news in MST’s view as interest expenses might be higher than expected. Meanwhile, THB70.6 billion bonds are required to be refinanced in 2024. A 50-100bps increase in cost of debt implies THB353-706 million additional interest expenses for TRUE.
Nevertheless, MST forecast TRUE’s core loss to narrow down from THB8.1 billion in 2023 to THB2.3 billion in 2024. The broker rated “BUY” on TRUE with a target price at THB8.6 per share.
