Thai Listed Companies Show Mixed Earnings Results in Q1 2025, with Profits Up Despite Sales and Operating Profit Decline
Thai listed firms reported a mixed financial performance for the first quarter of 2025. While overall net profits increased, driven by strong gains in consumption and service sectors, total sales and operating profits fell amid declining oil prices and subdued energy demand.
According to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), 812 out of 829 listed companies—representing 97.9%—submitted their first-quarter financial reports. Among these, 605 companies, or 74.5%, posted net profits.
Total sales for SET-listed companies amounted to 4.18 trillion baht (US$123 billion) during January-March, marking a 3.6% year-on-year decrease. At the same time, production and selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses dropped by 3% and 1%, respectively.
Despite the sales decline, net profits rose by 3.6% to 261.5 billion baht, supported by gains in investments and improved earnings across various business sectors.
SET President Asadej Kongsiri attributed the profit growth to Thailand’s recovery in tourism, which boosted performance in key sectors such as food and beverage, consumer goods, retail, aviation, telecommunications, and property rental.
“The positive momentum for general business groups in the first quarter was driven by Thailand’s improving tourism sector, which supported higher earnings in food and beverage, consumer products, retail, property rental, aviation, and telecom sectors,” he stated.
Nevertheless, he highlighted ongoing risks, including increased competition and margin pressures. The energy sector, particularly large-cap energy firms, faced challenges from lower oil prices, tighter refinery margins, and decreased electricity demand.
As of March 31, the debt-to-equity ratio of Thai listed companies outside the financial sector was 1.51 times, slightly up from 1.50 at the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, companies listed on the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) experienced a more pronounced downturn. Their total sales fell 4.6% year-on-year to 50.4 billion baht in the first quarter, with net profits dropping sharply by 59% to 1.76 billion baht.
President Prapan Charoenprawatt noted that 216 of the 224 MAI-listed companies, or 96%, had submitted their results. While over half reported sales growth and 70% remained profitable, overall earnings were impacted by project completions and losses from mark-to-market adjustments on digital and financial assets, reversing last year’s gains.
Despite challenging conditions, four sectors—agro & food, consumer products, services, and technology—continued to deliver growth in both sales and operating profits. The combined assets of these sectors rose 1.7% from the end of 2024 to 334.6 billion baht, with a stable debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79 times.
As of May 29, the MAI index stood at 241.75 points, with a market capitalization of 237.7 billion baht and an average daily trading value of 548 million baht.
