The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to amend the listing regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), aiming to provide them more opportunity to raise funds from the capital market.
SEC secretary-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol said the current listing rules have a one-size-fits-all approach and are a barrier for SMEs to launch an IPO on the Stock Exchange Thailand (SET) or Market for Alternative Investment (MAI).
A possible revision of listing rules for SMEs will be an agenda item for a meeting between the SEC and the SET on June 1.
As SMEs are the country's economic backbone, the Thai capital market should play a greater role in supporting their well-being, said Ms Ruenvadee. There are around 10 million people working in Thailand's SMEs.
Thailand has 3 million SMEs that are expected to generate 43% of the country's GDP in 2019, according to a study commissioned by Cisco Systems.
Current listing regulations require a company to have an operational track record for at least three years before listing on the SET, along with continuous three-year net profit.
To list on the MAI, a company is required to generate a net profit for the latest year before listing on the index, and meet the required market capitalisation value of at least 1 billion baht. Such regulations pose challenges for SMEs, who struggle to meet the stipulations.
Ms Ruenvadee said the SME listing regulations should be flexible, but further discussions on demand for listing and opinions from intermediaries, such as the SET, financial advisers and investors, are needed.
Once the aforementioned process is completed, there will be an industry hearing and hearing results will be concluded within one-and-a-half months, she said.
As of yesterday, listed companies on the SET and MAI indices reported a combined revenue of 2.92 trillion baht in the first quarter, up 4.4% year-on-year, while aggregate core operating profit was registered at 273 billion, down 3.3% year-on-year. Combined net profit logged 253 billion baht, down 9.3% year-on-year.
Operating results of listed companies in the energy and petrochemical segment posted a decline, while earnings of food and property businesses improved considerably, according to the SET.
Some 668 listed securities, making up 94.4% of 708 total listed securities on Thailand's bourse, reported first-quarter operating results for the period ended on March 31, said Manpong Senanarong, senior executive vice-president and head of issuer marketing division at the SET.
A full 513 listed companies were found to have registered net profits, accounting for 76.8% of all listed companies that reported, said Mr Manpong.