The revenue of Thai listed companies generated from their overseas investments reached a 17-year high of more than 6.21 trillion baht in 2022, an increase of 1.83 trillion from a year earlier, according to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
Although the global economy was highly volatile because of the Russia-Ukraine war and lingering impacts from the pandemic, listed companies earned record-high revenue from their investments in foreign markets last year, said the SET.
The amount accounted for 34% of the overall revenue listed companies generated in 2022. Among Southeast Asian countries, investments in Vietnam generated the highest revenue.
Of the 810 companies listed on the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) last year, 35% or 287 companies made overseas investments. Their market capitalisation totalled 14 trillion baht, representing 66.5% of the total market capitalisation of both markets.
Of the total 6.21 trillion baht, 6.18 trillion was generated from SET-listed companies and 19 billion from MAI-listed firms.
Last year, companies listed on the SET had net outbound investment of 86 billion baht, down 21.6% from 2021. Southeast Asia was a target region for these investments with combined outlays of 38 billion baht.
Vietnam attracted the highest investment from listed Thai companies over the past 17 years (2006-2022) with a tally of 330 billion baht, according to the SET.
Companies in the resource sector ranked No.1 for foreign revenue last year, valued at 2.5 trillion baht, an increase of 59% from the previous year, thanks to high oil prices.
Revenue of companies in the consumer sector fell 6.6% from the previous year.
Last year, companies listed on the SET and MAI posted revenue of 18.6 trillion baht, up 35.6% from 2021 despite unfavourable economic conditions in the global market.
Listed firms recorded net profit of 970 billion baht, down 6.7% year-on-year, attributed to higher operating costs, especially for companies in the petrochemical, transport and logistics, and construction materials sectors, said the SET.
In 2022, Asia excluding Southeast Asia generated the highest revenue of 1.7 trillion baht for listed Thai companies, followed by Asean nations at 1 trillion baht. Listed companies posted the highest revenue from regional investment in Vietnam at 31.8% of the total revenue from Asean, followed by Singapore and Indonesia.
Listed Thai companies also invested in North America and East Asia, with direct investments of 26 billion baht and 9 billion baht, respectively, said the SET.