Pruksa to miss 2011 net profit

BANGKOK, Nov 10 (Reuters): Major Thai property developers have cut their revenue growth forecasts for this year and delayed bond issue plans to finance expansion due to the impact of floods, executives said Thursday. Pruksa Real Estate Pcl , Thailand's second-largest property developer by market value, also said it had delayed planned foreign investment until the middle of 2012. The company had planned to launch 78 projects worth about 54 billion baht ($1.8 billion) this year but would now reduce that by about a third , Chief Operating Officer Prasert Taedullayasatit told reporters. "We have to manage our liquidity, both income and expenses. That includes cutting unnecessary costs, delaying construction of new projects and our foreign investments. We will consider the plans again in the middle of next year," Prasert said. Pruksa, which had planned to invest in property markets in India, has launched 46 domestic projects so far this year and planned three more, Prasert said. At the end of the third quarter, it had projects in hand worth about 37 billion baht ($1.2 billion), of which 18 per cent had been affected by floods. The company would delay a 5 billion baht bond issue to next year from November. Flooding would mean Pruksa will miss its 2011 net profit target of 4 billion baht and revenue target of 30 billion baht, Chief Financial Officer Somboon Wasinchutchawal said. The company more than doubled its third-quarter net profit to 761 million baht due to revenue from condominium projects, but fourth-quarter revenue is expected to be the lowest of the year as many clients delayed the transfer of housing units, Prasert said. "In the fourth quarter, both Pruksa and the property sector will be negatively affected by the floods," he said. Thailand's top home builder, Land & Houses Pcl , 13.21 per cent owned by the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, now expects revenue this year to grow by less than 25 per cent because of the flooding, Senior Executive Vice-President Adisorn Thananun-narapool told Reuters.