Listed property developers reported strong revenue growth and profits in the first half, and will continue to launch new projects in the second half as planned despite the economic slowdown.
Among nine developers that reported their financial results, Land and Houses Plc (LH) posted the highest net profit of 3.07 billion baht in the first half and 1.65 billion in the second quarter, while Pruksa Real Estate (PS) reported 2.18 billion and 1.4 billion, respectively.
Rutt Phanijphand, the president and chief executive of Quality Houses (QH), said there are three concerns for the housing market the rest of the year _ politics, the global and Thai economies and home loans.
"The most worrying factor is politics. If protests do not escalate too much, the property market will continue to grow but not as much as last year," he said.
Financial institutions are tightening their mortgage criteria, but may ease their stance if the world economy bounces back.
QH plans to launch 11 new projects worth a combined 6.43 billion baht in the second half and at least 15 projects worth 13.9 billion next year.
It will focus on townhouses in the second half due to strong demand, using prefab technology to deliver units quicker.
QH reported first-half revenue of 10 billion baht yesterday for a net profit of 1.7 billion. Of the total, 8.8 billion was from housing sales, 597 million baht was from rent and 467 million from subsidiaries HomeProduct Centre Plc and LH Bank as well as two property funds. Second-quarter revenue was 6.35 billion baht, up by 123%.
Mr Rutt said the major contributor was the mid- to low-end housing market, which accounted for 80% of the total.
SC Asset Corporation Plc reported a first-half net profit of 509 million baht yesterday on revenue of 4.43 billion baht, up 60%. It aims to have 10 billion baht in revenue by year-end.
The firm posted a net profit of 284 million baht on revenue of 2.67 billion in the second quarter. Of the revenue, 92% was from housing sales.
SC Asset plans to launch eight new residential projects worth a combined 10 billion baht in the second half, comprising seven single-house projects and one townhouse project.
The developer has 26 existing projects on hand with units worth 20 billion baht for sale. The sales backlog was 11 billion baht to be booked from 2013-2016.
AP (Thailand) Plc reported a net profit of 452 million baht on revenue of 4.28 billion in the second quarter, of which 40% came from condos and 60% from low-rise units.
As of Aug 4, it had presales of 9.5 billion baht, accounting for 43% of its annual target of 22 billion. Of the total sales backlog worth 29.7 billion baht, 3.39 billion were low-rise units, which would be realised in the second half.
AP's target revenue is 20 billion baht in 2013. It plans to launch 17 new projects worth a combined 16 billion baht the rest of the year.
Bangkok Land Plc reported a reviewed net profit of 373 million baht in the second quarter this year, up by 31.9% year-on-year.
Supalai Plc posted a second-quarter net profit of 302 million baht, down by 0.52% year-on-year. Its first-half net profit totalled 774 million baht, up by 36.1%.