Mr. Chansilp Treenuchagron, Chief Executive Officer and President of PTT Public Company Limited, revealed that PTT informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on May 7, 2019 that it had sold all of PTT’s palm oil business in Indonesia, which was in line with the policy of the PTT board of directors in the past, because it was considered a business that did not generate enough profit. However, he confirmed that the process of selling the business was complete, which had taken more than 4-5 years.

He believed that this sale of the business was more positive than negative, and that the investment in the palm oil business in Indonesia was not in vain because it gained experience. If it had not invested, it would not have known that palm oil is a business that involves many people, including society, the environment, and information of the country in which PTT invested, etc.

As for the coal business that PTT invested in Indonesia, a working group has been set up to consider how the business should be adjusted, because it was found that the selling price was not very good, and most coal is a product whose price is stable or decreasing. Normally, if the business still has some profit, PTT will use the method of adjusting it to continue. In this case, if the coal business is not doing well, the team has several approaches to consider, such as reducing the size of the business, finding a partner, or entering the stock market, etc. The results will be known clearly by the end of 2019.

For the letter that PTT informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand on May 7, 2019, the gist of the letter is that according to the resolution of the PTT board of directors approving PTT Green Energy Co., Ltd. (PTTGE SG), a subsidiary in Singapore, to sell all investments in Chancellor Oil Pte. Ltd. (CO), which holds 77.56% and is a company established in Singapore to operate palm oil plantation and palm oil production businesses through PT First Borneo Plantations (PT FBP), including transferring the loan that PTTGE SG lent to FBP Group to PT Bentala Agro Lestari (Bentala) or the FBP project.

After the Bentala share purchase agreement was signed in 2017, the buyer was unable to pay the deposit according to the terms and conditions specified in the contract. PTTGE SG therefore considered the approach to bidding for the FBP project again.

In the latest bidding, Premier Palmoil Energy Pte. Ltd. (Premier) expressed interest and made an offer to purchase all shares in the CO and all loans lent by PTTGE SG to FBP Group, which the PTT board of directors resolved to approve PTTGE SG to sell the shares and transfer the said loans to Premier as the purchaser.

On 28 February 2019, PTTGE SG and Primary Resources Pte. Ltd. (joint shareholders in the CO), as sellers and Premier as the purchaser, signed a sales and purchase agreement for the shares in the CO and all loans lent by PTTGE SG to FBP Group (Sales and Purchase Agreement) to Premier and completed the payment for the purchase of shares and all loans totaling approximately USD 9 million on 30 April 2019.

The sale of shares in the CO and loans lent by PTTGE SG to FBP Group to Premier under this sales and purchase agreement is the sale of all shares held by PTT in the CO through PTTGE SG and all loans lent by PTT. The loan in the FBP project is through PTTGE SG, which is in line with the PTT Group’s restructuring policy and causes CO to cease to be a subsidiary of PTTGE SG and PTT.