Padaeng agrees dividend, focuses on new areas

PDI will pay those whose names appear on the shareholders list by May 3 in accordance with Section 225 of the Securities Act, and the shareholder registration will be closed on May 4. The dividend payment will be executed on May 18.
The company, which specialises in zinc mining and smelting but has been diversifying into other fields, says its PDI-CRT joint venture in Rayong province will provide value-added materials from recycling complex industrial wastes. 
The production facility is in the basic design process, which is due for completion by the second half of this year. After that, the factory will be constructed and is due to start commercial operations in 2019. 
The PDI-CRT venture received full support from the Department of Industrial Works last year.
This year, PDI plans to continue investing in its three new businesses, which are energy, materials and eco-management. 
The company has plans to invest in solar farms both in Thailand and abroad. It aims to build total generation capacity of 150 megawatts within a three-year period.
Meanwhile, the eco-management business has an ongoing project, PDI Tak Eco, which is a joint venture between PDI and Dowa Eco-System. This project is seeking a licence to operate a fully integrated industrial-waste management facility in Tak province.
The waste-treatment capacity will be 50,000 tonnes per year, serving the Northern and Central regions in Thailand. The project will use the feedback from communication sessions with local communities to fine-tune its scope. 
This waste-management project has also received support from the Department of Industrial Works. 
Besides energy, materials and eco-management, PDI says it is still looking for other attractive merger and acquisition targets, generating good returns with controllable risks, leveraged by the capabilities of the company.