Listed companies in the general business group reported increased net profit in 2024, driven by the tourism growth creating positive ripple effects throughout the consumption and services sectors while the financial sector benefited from sustained high interest rates. However, the overall net profit of listed companies declined amid pressure from the oil and petrochemical businesses.
SET President Asadej Kongsiri revealed that 807 listed companies, representing 98.9 percent of the total 816 listed companies (comprising SET and mai listed companies scheduled to submit financial statements ended December 31, 2024 and excluding Real Estate Investment Trusts and Infrastructure Funds) already submitted their annual financial performance. Of these, 604 listed companies or 74.8 percent reported net profits.
SET-listed companies’ total sales rose 3.1 percent year-on-year to THB 17.52 trillion in 2024 (approx. USD 515.97 billion). Higher production costs coupled with increases in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses resulted in a 1.1 percent decline in core operating profit to THB 1.56 trillion and a 3.7 percent drop in net profit to THB 859.40 billion. However, when considering the general business groups (excluding the Energy and Petrochemicals Industry Groups), listed companies showed increases in sales, core operating profits, and net profits. Regarding financial position, Thai listed firms, excluding the Financial Group, had a debt-to-equity ratio (D/E ratio) of 1.49 times as of December 31, 2024, down from 1.52 times.
“The upward trajectory of Thailand’s tourism spurred growth of listed companies across tourism-related, consumption and service industries, including food and beverage, consumer products, retail, hospitality, aviation, healthcare, telecommunications, and commercial property rental. Additionally, we observed growth in the industrial estate sector, driven by a demand surge in the EEC area which aligns with production base relocations and record-high BOI investment promotion applications. The financial sector also benefited from the high interest rate. However, declining oil prices and Gross Refinery Margin (GRM) in 2024 adversely impacted the profitability of the oil and petrochemical businesses and the overall net profit of listed companies,” said Asadej.
mai-listed companies maintained their growth in 2024, posting total sales of THB 209.45 billion, representing a 3.8 percent year-on-year increase. With effective containment of production costs and SG&A expenses, they achieved an operating profit of approximately THB 15.0 billion and a net profit of THB 5.55 billion, up 27.9 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.
