.jpg)
- Combined net profit increased 1.89 pct y-o-y to THB 226.86 bln
- Falling oil prices dragged total sales down 10.83 pct y-o-y to THB 2.51 trillion
- Gross profit margins increased to 22.01 pct
- Transportation & Logistics, Banking, Commerce, Finance & Securities, Property Development were top five best profit-making sectors
Companies listed on The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) reported a combined net profit of THB 226.86 billion (approx. USD 6.87 billion) during the first quarter of 2015, up 1.89 percent from a year ago. The quarterly total sales decreased 10.83 percent from a year earlier to THB 2.51 trillion (approx. 76.18 bln), hit by a fall of world oil price.
SET Executive Vice President Santi Kiranand said that 499 SET-listed companies or 92.24 percent of the total 541 listed firms (excluding those in the non-compliance and non-performing groups) have reported their performance, ending March 31, 2015. Among these, 414 companies or 82.97 percent reported a net profit. The companies’ gross profit margins increased to 22.01 percent from 19.07 percent during the same period of 2014, while their net profit margins increased to 9.02 percent from 7.90 percent.
Excluding companies in Energy & Utilities and Petrochemicals & Chemicals sectors affected by a sharp decrease of oil prices, aggregated sales of listed companies grew 1.32 percent from a year earlier.
“The slowing global economic growth and a decline of world oil prices during the first quarter mainly affected companies in energy and exports sectors, dragging the overall sales down from a year earlier. However, effective cost control helped boosting their gross profit margins, pushing net earnings up from a year ago. Having said that, the sectors that were still promising with strong growth in terms of sales and profitability were Transportation & Logistics, Banking, Commerce, Finance & Securities, Property Development. Their combined net profit represented 38.58 percent of total listed companies,” Santi concluded.
By quarter, the first quarter's total sales of listed companies were down 11.23 percent compared to the previous quarter, while the combined net profit increased 232.15 percent, partly due to adjusted value of crude oil inventories of Energy & Utilities and Petrochemicals & Chemicals sectors. The debt-to-equity ratio (excluding those in Financials industry) maintained at 1.29 times.
