mai-listed firms report 2017 earnings of nearly THB 5 bln

Thursday 08 March 2018 08:30
- 2017 total sales worth THB 159 billion, up 11 pct y-o-y

- Net profits worth 4.97 billion, down 13.54 pct y-o-y, partly due to higher cost and extra items loss

- Out of the 63 firms that reported net profit for three consecutive years, 20 firms reported net profit growth.

Companies listed on Market for Alternative Investment (mai), reported sales of THB 158.74 billion (approx. USD 4.96 billion) in 2017, a 11.06 percent increase from a year earlier, while their combined net profits dropped by 13.54 percent to THB 4.97 billion. Out of the 63 firms that reported net profit for three consecutive years (2015-2017), 20 firms reported net profit growth.

mai President Prapan Charoenprawatt said the 2017 aggregate amount ending December 31, 2017 was from the 143 mai-listed companies of the total 151 firms (excluding those in the non-compliance group, and those not submitting the report in time). Among those reporting firms, 105 companies or 73 percent reported net profits. The combined sales were THB 158.74 billion, up 11.06 percent from a year earlier, while the total cost was THB 121.91 billion or 13.43 percent increase, resulting in a drop in gross profit margins to 23.20 percent from 24.80 percent. The net profit was reported at THB 4.97 billion, a 13.54 percent decrease.

"In 2017, sales of mai-listed firms has grown continuously, while higher costs pushed their profit margin down. Some listed firms recorded loss from extra items, resulting in net profit decrease. All industry groups reported growing sales and there were three out of eight industry groups that reported net profit growth in 2017, namely Industrials, Services, and Technology industry groups. Of the total mai-listed firms, top-five profit makers, in descending order, were Forth Smart Service plc (FSMART), Thai Solar Energy pcl (TSE), Sermsang Power Corporation plc (SSP), The Brooker Group plc (BROOK) and Bangkok Dec-Con pcl (BKD). Excluding newly-listed firms in 2016-2018, there were 63 firms that reported net profit for three consecutive years from 2015-2017, while 20 firms out of these reported net profit growth" added Prapan.

In Q4/2017, mai-listed companies reported combined sales of THB 42.41 billion, up 8.09 percent from Q3/2017 while their combined net profit decreased by 14.76 percent to THB 1.05 billion.

Their total assets at the end of 2017 rose by 12.45 percent to THB 253.11 billion from the same period last year, while their capital structure remained solid with debt-to-equity ratio at 0.97 times, down slightly from 1.06 in 2016."

As of March 6, 2017, there were 151 mai-listed firms and the mai index closed at 494.31 points, down 8.52 percent from the beginning of this year, with a total market capitalization of THB 310.87 billion and average daily trading value of THB 1.80 billion.