Most firms see a drop in revenue and profits

Supalai reported revenue of Bt14.98 billion in the first nine months, up 27.27 per cent year on year, and net profit of Bt3.06 billion, up 4.79 per cent.

LPN Development’s revenue in the period was Bt13.4 billion, up 56.9 per cent, and net profit Bt2.12 billion, up 66.9 per cent.

Golden Land Property Development announced that in the nine-month period ending on September 30, revenue was Bt5.67 billion, up 113 per cent year on year, while net profit was Bt371 million, a decline of 13 per cent.

Land & Houses reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Monday that sales revenue in the third quarter dropped 10.6 per cent year on year, while its rental and service income also declined by 14.22 per cent. Quality Houses also reported to the SET late on Monday that its revenue and net profit were down both in the third quarter and the first nine months

compared with the same periods in 2014. This was attributed to demand to buy in residential projects dropped, as some potential customers waited to see how the government’s stimulus package would affect them, such as by reducing transfer and mortgage fees.

Meanwhile, LPN Development advised the SET that it had successfully transferred condominium units in its Lumpini Ville On Nut-Lat Krabang 2 and Lumpini Park Rama 9-Ratchada projects to customers on time and on target.

"We suggest that our customers initially apply for a mortgage more than six months before having a home transferred to them, and cut their overall debt before submitting an application. As a result, we have a lower [mortgage] rejection rate and our customers were able to transfer their homes to meet our target in the third quarter of this year," said Opas Sripayak, LPN’s managing director, in an interview with The Nation.

The company also expects to transfer Bt3.5 billion worth of condominium units in the current quarter. This will drive its full-year revenue to its target of Bt16 billion, he said.

Supalai reported to the SET on Tuesday that its transfers of condos and detached houses had followed its business plan, and 63 per cent of its revenue in the first nine months were from condominium projects and the rest from detached houses and townhouses.

Tritecha Tangmatitham, deputy managing director of Supalai, said the company was confident of meeting its revenue target of Bt22 billion this year, up by 17.64 per cent from last year’s Bt18.7 billion, thanks to Bt11.4 billion of its total backlog of Bt38 billion being booked as revenue during the second half.

High hopes from stimulus

While the property market was slow in the third quarter, the top-10 listed residential developers are shooting for presales of Bt88 billion in this final quarter thanks to the government’s stimulus package.

"We’re trying to meet our Bt23-billion presales target for this year even though we see the market growing slightly in the final quarter.

"However, after the Cabinet approved the stimulus package to boost the property market from now until the end of April, this challenges us to boost our presales and achieve our revenue target," Tritecha said.

Property Perfect has cut its targets for this year’s presales and revenue to Bt14 billion and Bt12.5 billion from the early estimate of Bt15 billion after real-estate demand in the first nine months was lower than expected, said Wongsakorn Prasitvipat, chief business development officer.

"We hope the stimulus package for the property sector will boost our presales and revenue in the final quarter to achieve the new target," he said.

The stimulus package became effective on October 19.

The company targets Bt6 billion presales this quarter after recording Bt8 billion presales in the first three quarters, he said.

Sansiri and its joint venture with BTS Holdings Group, BTS Sansiri Holding, targets Bt12.6 billion in presales this quarter after logging Bt20.5 billion in the first three quarters, said Uthai Uthaisangsuk, senior executive vice president of business development and high-rise project development.

"Half of the total presales target in the last quarter of this year will be from Sansiri and half from the JV," he said.

Lersak Chuladesa, chief operating officer of Pruksa Real Estate, said the company succeeded in pre-selling Bt31 billion worth of units in the first eight months, which was near its projection.

The company is confident that its presales will achieve the Bt47-billion target for this year thanks to the government’s incentives.

The company’s latest marketing campaign, "Pruksa Best Buy Moment", offers special discounts of 2 per cent to boost sales in rest of the year.

"We believe our presales and total revenue will achieve our targets for this year," he said.

AP (Thailand) targets Bt28.3 billion in presales this year after logging Bt23 billion in the first nine months, said Vitakarn Chanvimol, chief marketing officer.

"Not only will the government’s measures boost our presales and revenue in the last quarter of this year, but also our marketing campaign will increase our sales," he said.