The pandemic crisis has bled the wealth of Thailand's top 10 richest shareholders by 141 billion baht, with Gulf Energy Development's chief executive Sarath Ratanavadi retaining the top spot for the second consecutive year.
The decline in the combined wealth of the top 10 is a 7.1% year-on-year drop, according to the 27th annual survey by Money & Banking magazine and the faculty of commerce and accountancy at Chulalongkorn University.
The survey used the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index's closing at 1,237.04 on Sept 30 as the reference point for calculating wealth.
The SET index's closing on Sept 30 was a 32.4% year-on-year plunge from 1,637.22 points recorded in last year's corresponding period. The fall was caused by the pandemic forcing the export and tourism sectors to nosedive.
The Thai bourse has since recovered, hovering around 1,480 points on the back of offshore net inflows moving into Thailand's capital market amid a risk-on sentiment attributed to Covid-19 vaccine development and the US presidential election results.
Mr Sarath retains the pole position on the list for a second year despite a 4.69% year-on-year drop in his total share value. He is the largest shareholder in Gulf, with a 35.4% share. Mr Sarath's wealth from equities is valued at 115 billion baht, down by 5.67 billion from last year.
Sarath: Leads pack despite losses
Gulf is a holding company with a portfolio of electricity, steam, chilled water generation and related businesses.
Although the company's share price skyrocketed by 110% to 160 baht per share (with a par value of 5 baht per share) on Sept 30, 2019 from the IPO price of 45 baht in 2018, Gulf shares were among the casualties of the pandemic, dropping to 30.50 baht (with a par value of 1 baht per share) as of Sept 30, 2020, subsequently reducing Mr Sarath's wealth by around 5.6 billion baht.
Coming in second is Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, a major shareholder in Bangkok Airways (BA), Bangkok Dusit Medical Services and Nonthavej Hospital.
Dr Prasert's total share value is estimated at 50.1 billion baht this year, down 24.3% year-on-year, as SET-listed companies where Dr Prasert is a major shareholder have suffered from the pandemic, especially BA, which was hit by the government's lockdown measures.
Dr Prasert's equities clustered in the medical segment have shed substantial gains on the back of foregone losses from foreign patients.
Niti Osathanugrah of Osotspa ranks third with total share value of 48.2 billion baht, down 0.89% year-on-year.