Net profits of listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand surged 9.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2024 to 519 billion baht as sales grew 6.3% over the period to 8.96 trillion baht, buoyed by a significant recovery in tourism and rising oil prices.
SET president Pakorn Peetathawatchai said listed companies delivered significant growth in both top and bottom-line figures in the first six months as the positive impact of tourism rippled across the services and consumer goods industry groups. In addition, oil-related sectors benefited from favourable market conditions.
Some 95% of all 856 companies listed on the SET and Market for Alternative Investment (MAI), excluding property funds and infrastructure funds, have already submitted their second-quarter operating results.
Of these, 631 listed companies, accounting for 77% of those that submitted financial statements, reported a net profit.
In the second quarter, listed companies continued their growth trajectory, with those on the SET experiencing an 8.4% year-on-year growth in sales. As of June 30, the average debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio of listed companies (excluding the financial sector) remained stable at 1.51 times.
"The continued expansion of the tourism sector significantly boosted profits across service-related and associated businesses, such as food and beverages, consumer goods, hotels, aviation, space rental, retail, healthcare, and telecommunications," said Mr Pakorn.
Higher oil prices also bolstered the oil sector, leading to strong operational and net profit growth for listed companies in the first six months. However, the property development and construction sectors faced challenges due to a decrease in public and private sector projects, he noted.
MAI-listed companies posted a 7.7% increase in first-half sales to 104 billion baht. Thanks to their effective management of costs and expenses, these companies saw a 80.5% jump in net profit to 6.1 billion baht.
Excluding the top five turnaround companies, these MAI-listed companies reported a 22.8% rise in net profit to 4.95 billion baht in the first half.
"Companies have effectively managed costs and selling and administrative expenses since the first quarter of this year, enhancing their profitability," said MAI president Prapan Charoenprawatt.
"Sales growth was seen in almost all industry groups, except for resources, which recorded a slight decline. However, nearly all industry groups experienced growth in operating profit and net profit, with only consumer goods and technology reporting a decline in profit," he added.
Meanwhile, the SET is preparing to launch three additional measures to enhance market supervision and reduce stock price volatility in two phases, starting from next month, in a bid to restore investor confidence as the bourse continues to recover.
According to Rongrak Phanapavudhikul, senior executive vice-president and spokesman for the SET, the measures comprise dynamic price bands (DPB), a minimum resting time, and auctions, with the first phase taking effect on Sept 2. The second phase is slated for early 2025.
The DPB measure, to be applied to securities trading at a price of 1 baht or above, limits price movements for current trading to no more than 10% of the reference price, which is the last executed price.
If no trading occurs on that day, the previous day's closing price is the reference price.
The bands are applied to common stocks, real estate investment trusts, property funds and infrastructure funds. They are not applicable to foreign order books, odd lots, derivative warrants, and initial public offering stocks.
The minimum resting time is a requirement that trading orders must remain in the trading system for at least 250 milliseconds before they can be edited or cancelled. This measure aims to curb frequent order updates and cancellations that could potentially mislead the market about high demand for particular securities.
Lastly, the auction method aims to match trading at one time to a period specified by the stock exchange for securities whose trading differs from regular conditions, said Mr Rongrak.
