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SECURITIES
NUNTAWUN POLKUAMDEE
Asia Plus Securities, one of the country's top brokers, will rethink its business plans after posting a 95-million-baht loss on its proprietary investments in the third quarter. Chief executive Kongkiat Opaswongkarn said the company would also slash its proprietary trading operations from a portfolio of between 600 and 700 million baht to just 100 million.
But ASP expects to increase its investments again in 2009 once market sentiment improves, he added.
ASP reported a third-quarter loss of 33.15 million baht, down sharply from a profit of 150.4 million in the same period last year. Nine-month profit sank to 196.6 million baht from 351.9 million last year.
The company attributed its losses to a 53.8% fall in brokerage income in the third quarter as turnover dropped on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. In the first nine months ASP booked a gain of 69.72 million baht on proprietary trading, before making a 95.19-million loss in the third quarter.
Dr Kongkiat said trading in equities, bonds and other markets had all been hit by the global crisis in the third quarter. Next year the company would be aiming for stability rather than growth.
''It's difficult to predict the direction of the market next year. There are many uncertainties, both domestically and abroad,'' he said.
But he added that in 2009 ASP hopes to keep its share of SET turnover above 5%. The broker currently has a market share of 5.25% and over 102,000 brokerage accounts, of which 19% are considered active.
Next year, although ASP will continue to focus on brokerage, proprietary investment and investment banking, Dr Kongkiat said the company saw growth opportunities in financial advisory and debt restructuring services, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises.
ASP currently expects the Thai economy to contract 0.8% in 2009, due to a plunge in household spending. But it forecasts that an outbreak of violence could shrink the economy by as much as 3.7%, with investment falling by 10% and exports by 6%.
Shares of ASP closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 1.01 baht, down two satang, in trade worth 8.81 million baht.
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