FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Social Security Office denies buying 8m overpriced shares

Social Security Office denies buying 8m overpriced shares

The Social Security Office (SSO) today denied reports that it bought Land and Houses (LH) stock at Bt10.16 per share on April 2, higher than the closing price of Bt6.65 per share.

The report has stirred controversy since the SSO is responsible for disbursing hundreds of billions of baht in remedial funds to people suffering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Phisamai Nithipaiboon, SSO chief inspector, said on Thursday (April 16) that the office bought 8 million LH stocks through securities on April 2 at Bt6.6051 per share, while the closing price was Bt6.65.
“The SSO has to submit reports on acquisition or disposition of securities to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, since the SSO holds shares totalling 5.0335 per cent,” she said. “However, the report [we submitted] required we specify the stock with the highest price acquired over the past 90 days.”
She explained that the SSO bought the highest-priced stock, at Bt10.16 per share, on January 7 this year, while LH stocks had a closing price of Bt10.20 per share.
“Therefore, the SSO did not buy LH stocks or more than the trading price as claimed by the news report,” she said. “The SSO gained more than Bt8 million in profit as the LH stock price on April 14 this year closed at Bt7.65 per share.”
She further explained that the SSO regularly invests in listed companies’ ordinary shares by using the excess contributions from insurers.
“We diversify investment in many industries by selecting stocks with good fundamentals and financial status, with a chance of domestic and international growth in the long term, consistent dividends, low financial risk, and able to cope with uncertainty in the economy.
“For long-term investment, SSO has invested in LH stocks for a long time as the company is an experienced leader in the industry, focuses on selling real estate to customers with high income, gains dividends from investment in stock market companies, pays high and consistent dividends, and has a low level of debt.”
She added that stock price had dropped after the Covid-19 outbreak hit the global economy and stock markets.
“However, the SSO expects the price to rebound within 12 to 18 months, so the office will hold on to the stocks for long-term investment,” she added.
“During the past 10 years, the office has an investment return of approximately 12.73 per cent a year.”
She asked insurers and employers to be confident that the SSO will invest carefully and efficiently for the benefit of insurers.

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