Published

On  March 22, 2021By  Headline Editor

SET News 17/2021
March 12, 2021

SET-listed companies’ 2020 earnings drop due to COVID-19, falling oil price with positive sign of recovery in H2

– Yearly sales fell 14.4 pct to THB 10.68 trillion, hit by COVID-19 pandemic & sharp decline in oil price.
– Operating profit of Agribusiness, Food & Beverage, Personal Products & Pharmaceuticals, and packaging sectors increased.
– Q4 sales, core operating profit and net profit of SET-listed firms rose Q-o-Q.

BANGKOK, March 12, 2021 – Companies listed on The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) reported a 53 percent year-on-year drop of net profit in 2020, hit by COVID-19 and sharp oil price decline. However, the companies have continued to revive following the economic recovery, starting from Q2/2020 while the pandemic containment measures have increasingly been relaxed.

SET Senior Executive Vice President Manpong Senanarong said that 718 SET- and mai-listed companies, accounting for 96.2 percent of the total 746 companies (excluding property funds, infrastructure funds, and non-compliance or NC), submitted their financial reports, ended December 31, 2020. Among those firms, 509 companies or 70.9 percent posted net profits.

In 2020, SET-listed companies’ earnings were down year-on-year, marking combined sales of THB 10.68 trillion (approx.. USD 34.66 billion), core operating profits of THB 736.61 billion and net profits of THB 420.84 billion. Worst performer in terms of sales was Energy & Utilities sector. Net profits of companies in Transportation & Logistics sector recorded the most decline, hugely impacted by large corporations’ losses. On the other hand, operating profit of the following sectors: Agribusiness, Food & Beverage, Personal Products & Pharmaceuticals and Packaging, notched higher.

SET-listed companies’ gross profit margin rose to 21.10 percent from 20.56 percent, while their core operating profits edged lower to 6.90 percent from 7.31 percent, and net profit margin slipped to 3.94 percent from 7.17 percent. 2020 growth rate (Y-o-Y) Total Excluding Energy & Utilities sector and large firms in Transportation & Logistics sector
Sales -14.4% -6.8%
Core operating profit -19.2% -1.4%
Net profit -53.0% -33.0%

If excluding earnings of companies in Energy & Utilities sector, the decline in 2020 was in line with the pace of the country’s economic growth and the drop of net profits was not considerably deep. In Q4/2020, sales, core operational profits and net profits picked up from the previous quarter.

Quarterly growth rate excluding Energy & Utilities sector and large firms in Transportation & Logistics sector
%Q-o-Q Q1/20 Q2/20 Q3/20 Q4/20
Sales -3.3 -9.7 8.5 3.7
Core operating profit 17.0 -19.4 37.9 2.8
Net Profit -24.7 -31.6 36.9 7.7

Regarding financial position at end-2020, Thai listed firms’ debt-to-equity ratio (excluding those in Financials industry group) continued to rise to 1.58 times from 1.35 a year before.

“The virus outbreak adversely impacted consumption demand and tourism & hospitality industries. As a result, business performance of listed companies in most sectors decreased. However, the new normal way of life has accelerated digitization while demand in healthcare & wellness surged, driving growth for Food & Beverage, rubber-related Agribusiness, Packaging and digital platform Communication Technology sectors. Moreover, the ease of pandemic control measures in the second half of the year contributed to the improving performance
of listed companies across sectors from the bottom in Q2,” said Manpong.

Companies listed on Market for Alternative Investment (mai) posted a 7.2 percent drop of total sales to THB 166.88 billion in 2020. Their operating core profits increased 8.3 percent from a year earlier to THB 6.44 billion, while net profits fell 63.0 percent to THB 3.37 billion.