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Published on September 29, 2007

PTT president Prasert Bunsumpun yesterday said he had sold his shares in the company and two of its subsidiaries, to comply with a recently introduced law governing conflicts of interest.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Prasert said that last week he received Bt39.92 million from selling 171,000 shares in Thai Oil, 41,000 in PTT Chemical and 60,000 in PTT.

Other PTT executives have also sold off their holdings in the group. They and Prasert fetched a total of Bt109.43 million last week from the share sales.

"If you see my name in the share transactions by listed companies' executives, don't be suspicious that I've dumped the shares or taken a profit. I must follow the law prohibiting executives of state enterprises from holding even a share of their firms and subsidiaries. I had accumulated about 100,000 shares of PTT since it started listing. I received some from the employee stock-option programme and others from buying in the stock market," he said.

He said he had not yet sold his entire stake, as the law allows executives of state enterprises to divest their shares within 60 days of its coming into effect on September 6.

Prasert said he would scoop up shares in PTT and its subsidiaries again if the law were revised to exempt state-enterprise executives.

"I believe the law will eventually be revised to cover only public officials who own shares of companies in which they are directors. Myself, I'm not a public official, and I should be able to hold shares in companies I manage. A frequently asked question in roadshows is how many PTT shares I hold. Holding shares by management can build up investor confidence that those executives would not abandon their companies and would do everything to protect shareholders' interests," he said.

Commenting on the political uncertainty in Burma, Prasert said PTT had already stocked up on oil to replace natural gas for power generation, should it become impossible to deliver gas from Burma.

He sought to soothe market jitters that PTT's group business in Burma would feel the pinch from the current tension, as its pipelines are located far from where the violence has broken out.

PTT's subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production operates three natural-gas fields in Burma.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

The Nation