SET & MAI Firms post rise in Q1 sales, dip in net profit
Securities listed on The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and Market for Alternative Investment (mai) posted total sales of Bt2.92 trillion ($91.3 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, up 4.4 per cent from last year.
Their aggregate net profit for the three months (January to March) fell by 9.3 per cent from the same period last year to Bt2.53 billion, weighed down by lower net profits of Energy & Utilities and Petrochemicals & Chemicals sectors. Food & Beverage and Property Development were among top-performing sectors.
SET senior executive vice president Manpong Senanarong said that 668 listed securities, accounting for 94.4 per cent of the 708 securities (excluding property funds, real estate investment trusts, infrastructure funds, non-compliance and non-performing groups), submitted their quarterly earnings ended March 31, 2019. Among those securities, 513 securities, representing 76.8 per cent, delivered net profits.
In the first quarter of 2019, Thai listed securities’ combined sales continued to improve but core operating profit dropped 3.3 per cent year on year to Bt273 billion. Core operating profit margin declined to 9.3 per cent from 10.1 per cent, pressured by Energy & Utilities and Petrochemicals & Chemicals sectors’ lower gross refinery margin (GRM) and price spread, in line with the global markets and tougher competition in the Commerce sector and Consumer Products industry groups, said Manpong.
