Thai Ratchaburi eyes stake in Australian power plant

* Aims to buy more than 20 pct stake, to conclude in Q1/2010

* Plans to invest 5 bln baht in 2010

* Shares down 1.32 pct, underperform the market

BANGKOK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's largest private power producer said on Friday it was in talks to buy more than 20 percent of an unidentified Australian power plant early next year as part of a regional hunt for growth opportunities.

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding RATC.BK declined to identify the Australian company but said it has capacity of more than 100 megawatts. That's about enough to power about 75,000 homes.

"What we aim to buy is more than 20 percent stake," Deputy Managing Director Thawat Vimolsarawong told reporters. He expected to conclude the deal in the first quarter.

With limited growth at home, Ratchaburi, like other major Thai power producers, is looking for growth opportunities abroad to boost capacity, especially in the Asian region.

Ratchaburi has generating capacity of 4,300 megawatts (MW), or about 15 percent of Thailand's total. It has cash flow of around 10 billion baht ($300 million).

Ratchaburi, 45 percent owned by the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the country's sole power buyer, plans to invest at least 5 billion baht ($150 million) next year on existing projects, including a hydropower plant Nam Nguem 2 in Laos. The budget excludes the Australian power plant.

Ratchaburi reported a surprisingly strong 20 percent fall in net profit in the July-September quarter after delaying a plant shutdowm for maintenance to the fourth quarter from the third.

The shutdown will push fourth-quarter earnings below those of the third quarter, said Thawat. He also maintained an earlier forecast that 2009 net profit would be lower than a year earlier due to plant shutdowns and higher taxes.

The company was expected to post a 7 percent fall in 2009 net profit to 6 billion baht, according to 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

At 0827 GMT, Ratchaburi shares were down 1.32 percent at 37.25 baht, while the overall Thai stock market was down 0.26 percent. (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; editing by Jason Szep)