ITD, property lead SET drop

Shares of Italian-Thai Development (ITD) and property development companies led the decline of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index yesterday, following Friday's major earthquake, with most suggesting short-term psychological impact would last for a couple of days.

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ITD shares sank by more than 23% to 10.2 baht after 36 or more buildings under construction collapsed when the huge earthquake, measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale, struck Myanmar, causing tremors in Thailand, with one of the most significant tremors being in Bangkok's economic zone.

The main contractor for the project is ITD-CREC, a joint venture between Thai contractor ITD and China Railway No.11 Infrastructure.

The property sector contracted 2.69% and construction services fell 2.83%, as the overall sales fell by less than 1%.

In contrast, the construction material sector soared 2.12%, on an anticipated increase in demand to repair property damage both in Thailand and Myanmar.

In a filing to the SET, ITD said the ITD-CREC joint venture has insurance coverage for the State Audit office's full contract worth 2.13 billion baht, which includes protection against natural disaster-related disruptions and third-party liability for up to 100 million baht.