AMA
AMA reported 2017 earnings of Bt235.15mn, growing 71.99% YoY with revenue of Bt1.50bn, a new high backed by more ships and trucks. It plans to expand its fleet in order to support increasing global demand for palm oil as export volume of palm oil is forecasted to rise to 4mn tons this year. It projects 2018 revenue to grow by 30%. (Thun Hoon, 22/02/18)

BIG
BIG targets 2018 revenue to grow by 10-15% from 2017’s revenue of Bt6.043bn. It plans to penetrate the printing market and believes this business will supply solid growth to the company. The board approved a dividend of Bt0.13/share, even though 2017 earnings decreased to Bt774mn. (Khao Hoon, 22/02/18)

III
III targets 2018 revenue to grow by 20% backed by the strong outlook for its business. It expects the shipping business to grow 50% this year and has budgeted Bt505mn to expand its warehouses. It says it is negotiating with a foreign party to acquire a company. (Thun Hoon, 22/02/18)

MTLS
MTLS projects 2018 revenue to grow by 40% and expects earnings to make a new high. It targets 2018 new loans of Bt80bn, the highest in its segment and has budgeted Bt220-230mn to increase its branches to 2,800 from 2,500 now. It aims to maintain NPLs at no more than 1.5% and does not expect any impact from IFRS9 as its reserve is already high at 260%. (Thun Hoon, 22/02/18)
Comment: As per the interview, they keep growing and growing and growing.

PLANET
PLANET believes 2018 earnings will turn around and targets revenue to grow by 20% to Bt800mn. It currently has backlog of Bt300mn, of which 80% will be booked as revenue this year. It is going to bid for projects to supply communication equipment and systems worth Bt2bn and expects to receive 20%. (Khao Hoon, 22/02/18)
Comment: One “funny” little company

PTT
PTT bought 1,950mn or 9.54% of IRPC shares from Government Savings Bank for Bt13.845bn. This raises its holdings in IRPC to 48% and it will get a dividend from IRPC of Bt2.8bn. It says the par split to Bt1 will raise the incentive for retail investors to buy its shares and its shares will trade at the new par at the beginning of May. (Khao Hoon, 22/02/18)
Comment: Why would PTT do this? Well for the government its left pocket right pocket and the GSB is being used as a funding source by the government to provide relief to low income earners in the country. Now the par split was a surprise and without it the market would already be down below 1,700.

SUN
SUN has budgeted Bt260mn to increase production capacity of frozen corn by three tons/hour. It has begun to receive orders from Japan, Korea and Taiwan and expects sales to these countries at Bt300mn this year, supporting 2018 revenue to grow by 10-15%. It also plans to raise margin above 25%. (Thun Hoon, 22/02/18)
Comment: Have been wondering about the competition in the corn industry given the turnaround in APURE over the past 2 years, at least there is now a direct comparison available in the market.

WHA
WHA reports 2017 earnings at Bt3.266bn, its highest ever, implying growth of 13% and revenue of Bt12.4bn. It announced a dividend of Bt0.1/share, XD on May 8. It believes its business has a good in 2018 after approval of the draft EEC Act by the NLA, raising the confidence of foreign investors. It targets 2018 land sales at 1,400 rai. (Thun Hoon, 22/02/18)
Comment: Strip out the fx earnings from WHAUP and it’s not that pretty.

WHAUP
WHAUP will startup three power plants with total capacity of 64.5MW in 1Q18. It plans to invest in power, natural gas, renewable energy and utilities in 2018 in order to sustain growth. It reported 2017 earnings of Bt1.9809bn, growing by 436%, and announced a dividend of Bt0.2034/share, totaling Bt778mn. (Thun Hoon, 22/02/18)
Comment: See above