Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, at the beginning of April 2022 was more crowded than what it had been in the past two years after further easing Covid-19 restrictions for inbound travelers, starting April 1 onward and expecting to lift all requirements entirely by June 1, 2022.
According to the report of the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), there were a total of 25,627 inbound travelers entering Thailand on April 1-2, which was considerably high compared to nearly 153,000 international arrivals in February 2022, a slight increase from 134,000 arrivals in January.
Thailand heavily relies on the tourism industry and exports to boost its economy. Exports have been recovering for some time as global demand has returned after easing Covid-19 situation across the globe. However, the Thai government has been very cautious about fully reopening in fear of another wave of Covid, seen from the delta variant and then the omicron variant.
Most of the major reopening stocks have been outperforming SET Index this year in anticipation to the economic recovery after the devastating delta and omicron variant in 2021 that hindered the Thai economic growth significantly. Still, there are some upside to target prices of these stocks namely MINT, AOT, BA and BTS.
| % YTD Change | 2021 Net Income Reported |
2022 Net Income Estimated |
Consensus Target Price |
|
| SET | 2.64 | |||
| AOT | 9.02 | -16,322 | -9,530 | 69.41 |
| MINT | 18.26 | -14,712 | 1,637 | 37.92 |
| SHR | 20.67 | -1,234 | -140 | 5.16 |
| ERW | 10.67 | -2,050 | -693 | 3.35 |
| CENTEL | 28.80 | -1,733 | -208 | 39.06 |
| BA | 3.59 | -8,549 | -1,985 | 12.60 |
| AAV | 0.00 | -6,647 | -6,034 | 2.89 |
| BDMS | 8.70 | 7,936 | 7,547 | 27.56 |
| BH | 10.28 | 1,215 | 2,032 | 160.60 |
| BTS | -2.14 | 4,576 | 2,349 | 12.43 |
| BEM | 2.37 | 1,010 | 2,216 | 9.82 |
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (SET: AOT), as a major airport operator in Thailand, will undoubtedly benefit from every single international arrival whether it be passengers or aircraft landing. It can also record revenue from ground services and concessionaires of all shops in the airports.
Hotel operators will be the next sector to benefit from an increase in tourist arrivals as travelers are required to book at least one night upfront at designated hotels to wait for the RT-PCR test (Covid test). Minor International Public Company Limited (SET: MINT) is one of the most recommended stocks from brokers due to its nature of businesses, having hotel and food operations in Thailand, while recognizing the majority of its revenue from the operations in Europe that has kicked off reopening and economic recovery long before Thailand.
Moreover, MINT is the only major hotel business in Thailand that analysts from Refinitiv expect to record positive bottomline in 2022, while other hotel operators are expected to perform better, but still in a loss column.
While other hospital stocks are surging from higher revenue generated from Covid-related services, however, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Public Company Limited (SET: BDMS) and Bumrungrad Hospital Public Company Limited (SET: BH) are eyeing for the return of international tourists, more precisely medical tourists. Analysts expect BH to record more than 60% of profit growth in 2022.
Public transporters such as BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited (SET: BTS) and Bangkok Express Metro Public Company Limited (SET: BEM) are expected to see a rise in riders and usage of expressways in Thailand. However, BTS might see a slight decline in estimated net profit this year as consensus sees lower-than-expected performance from its subsidiary VGI and BTSGIF.
In addition, analysts are positive on the overall outlook as Thailand is recovering from its low, which will result in only more upside to the Thai economy. Meanwhile, most major reopening stocks still have upside to their target prices, showing their potential of growing from 2020-21 low.
