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The President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), Mr. Kittiratt Na-Ranong, announced the performance of listed companies in the past nine months, ending September 30, 2002 that as of November 15, 2002, 364 out of 394 listed companies (92%) on the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) submitted their earnings reports (January-September). 79% or 286 companies reported net profits while seventy-eight (21%) reported net losses. Net profits amounted to 147.935 billion baht, which is a ten percent increase from the 133.995 billion baht net profit recorded in the same period last year.
"Of the 356 companies listed on the SET, 280 companies, or seventy-nine percent, announced net profits whereas seventy-six companies (twenty-one percent) announced net losses. Profits totaled 147.816 billion baht, which is an increase of ten percent from the 133.894 billion baht profit in the same period last year. Of all the industrial sectors, twenty-five recorded net profits amounting to 73.244 billion baht, which amounts to seventy-one percent of the net profits in the industrial and service sectors. The sectors in profits were the Energy, Construction and Furnishing, Property Development, Pulp and Paper, and Communications sectors," the President explained.
The performance of the 230 companies in the industrial and service sectors, which make up most of sectors in the market (but excluding the Banking and Rehabco sectors) showed growth. In the first nine months of 2002, net profit totaled 102.578 billion baht, which is an increase of nine percent compared to the 93.718 billion baht recorded in the same period last year. The increased profit came from improved sales and an increase in initial profits as well as lower interest rates, which reduced companies' interest rate burden. Moreover, the strengthening of the baht lowered loses from exchange rates. This year, companies saw exchange rate losses of 111 million baht, while last year saw exchange rate losses of as much as 829 million baht.
Three industrial sectors recorded net losses: Textiles, Machinery, and the Mineral sectors. They recorded losses of 1.793 billion baht. Of the eight companies listed on the MAI, six companies recorded net profits while two had net losses. Net profits totaled 119 million baht, which is an increase of eighteen percent from last year's net profit of 101 million baht.
For the first nine months, the thirteen commercial banks plus the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand saw net profits of 20.846 billion baht, decreased 16.172 billion baht or forty-four percent from the same period last year. This was the result of reserve transactions of non-performing loans (NPLs) of Siam City Bank Plc. (SCIB) worth 45.229 billion baht being reversed to income.
Mr. Kittiratt said, "if we disregard SCIB's profit from excess provisioning, in the first nine months of 2002 commercial banks increased profits by 354%, compared to a net loss of 8.211 billion baht recorded in the same period last year. Commercial banks saw profits from interest rates and net shareholders' dividends before NPL provisioning increase by twelve percent because of increased loans and better management of interest rate spreads, which came from deposit and loan rate cuts. Moreover, banks also recorded an increase in non-interest profit of twenty-seven percent.
Securities companies recorded net profit increases of 241%. Of the seventeen securities companies, sixteen companies recorded net profits in the first nine months of 2002 of 5.072 billion baht, an increase from the same period last year of 1.489 billion baht. The profit came from an increase in net dividend interest rate and non-interest earnings. Securities companies that deal only in the securities business, saw net profits of 1.323 billion baht in the first nine months of 2002, from a net loss of sixteen million baht in the same period last year, due to the re-imposition of minimum transaction fees.
Of the fifty-two companies in the Rehabco Sector, thirty-one companies reported their performance in the first nine months of 2002. These companies saw an increase in profits twenty-one-fold, with sixteen companies reporting net profits while fifteen reported net losses. Net profits amounted to 18.142 billion baht, which is an increase from the 828 million baht recorded during the same period last year, due to profits from favorable exchange rates and a reduced interest rate burden. The sector saw profits from debt restructuring of 23.849 billion baht, which is an increase of 686% from the same period last year.
On October 31 2002, 148 listed companies (sixty-two percent) saw progress in their debt restructuring efforts. The debts involved totaled 1,133.696 billion baht. At the end of the third quarter, 895 million baht in debts were successfully restructured. This is an increase of 0.09% from the second quarter and 4.49% from the first quarter.
On October 31, 2002, 980.343 billion baht of debts had been successfully restructured. Of these debts, 498.037 billion baht (51%) belong to forty companies that have been restructured and rehabilitated by the Bankruptcy Court. 52% of these restructuring efforts involve the postponement of debt paybacks while 16% is based on conversion of debt into capital/debentures, 8% is due to recapitalization, and the remaining 24% is the result of the reduction in the principle and interest burden, or the selling of assets, etc.
