Thailand’s Top Water Provider Rises to Record on Growth

Eastern Water Resources Development and Management Pcl (EASTW), Thailand’s biggest private water provider, rose to a record in Bangkok trading on infrastructure expansion plans and a forecast for growth in water demand from producers.

The shares climbed 2.6 percent to 11.8 baht at the close, the highest level since it listed on the stock exchange in 1997. The benchmark SET Index (SET) in comparison rose 0.1 percent.

The Bangkok-based water company, controlled by state-owned Provincial Waterworks Authority, plans to spend 4.1 billion baht ($131 million) through 2016 to expand water reserves and pipelines, Executive Vice President Jaroensuk Worapansopak said today at a meeting with investors in Bangkok.

Eastern Water is benefiting from an increase in industrial activity in eastern Rayong province, where General Motors Co. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F) have plants, after some production shifted there when factories in Thailand’s central region were damaged by flooding, according to Jaroensuk.

Manufacturers’ demand for its raw water is projected to grow 8.4 percent in 2012 and 6.7 percent in 2013, he said.

Eastern Water shares have surged 90 percent this year compared with an 21 percent increase in the SET Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Randall Hackley at rhackley@bloomberg.net