Companies listed on the Market for Alternative Investment (mai), in The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) group, reported a 27.45 percent increase in sales to THB 22.9 billion (approx. USD 738 million) in the first quarter of 2012, while net profit dipped slightly by 1.21 percent from a year earlier to THB 1.23 billion.
The performance was compiled from 72 companies of the total 73 mai-listed firms. Of the total, 55 companies, equivalent to about 76 percent of the total, made net profits, and 30 companies enjoyed higher sales and net profits, said mai President Chanitr Charnchainarong.
“The first-quarter sales improvement represented the promising growth of mai-listed companies. However, the slight fall of total net profit was du to higher selling costs, dragging gross profit margins down to 18.29 percent, from 21.32 percent earlier. For the next quarter, cost management should be an important factor for a business operation. We see business sectors which are especially promising are those in professional services, marketing activities, construction, and commerce,” Chanitr said.
Of the total mai firms, twelve posted year on year net profit growth of over 100 percent in the first quarter of 2012: Brooker Group pcl (BROOK), CMO pcl (CMO), Energy Earth pcl (EARTH), Interlink Communication pcl (ILINK), Multibax pcl (MBAX), Moong Pattana International pcl (MOONG), Pico Thailand pcl (PICO), Salee Industry pcl (SALEE), Simat Technologies pcl (SIMAT), Sherwood Chemicals pcl (SWC), Thai Industrial & Engineering Service pcl (TIES), and TRC Construction pcl (TRC).
Seven companies continuously reporting growth of sales and net profits over the last two years were Jubilee Enterprise pcl (JUBILE), Lighting & Equipment pcl (L&E), Master Ad pcl (MACO), Moong Pattana International pcl (MOONG), Pylon pcl (PYLON), Union Petrochemical pcl (UKEM), and Yuasa Battery (Thailand) pcl (YUASA).
In addition, MSCI, the world’s leading index provider, added EARTH’s shares into its MSCI Global Small Cap Indices, effective from May 31, 2012.
For more information on mai-listed firms’ financial statements, please visit www.mai.or.th, www.set.or.th and www.settrade.com.