In 2019, according to the international trade war, the overall global economic growth rate declined, including Thailand, which also affected the fluctuation of exchange rates.
However, the factor greatly affecting the property business sector was the Bank of Thailand’s Loan to Value measures in the second quarter which affected the ability of customers to transfer ownership. Combined with the problem of increment of household debt levels and decreasing agricultural product prices, the purchasing decisions of customer groups decreased which caused a slowdown.
In the meantime, the appreciating Thai Baht caused foreign customers, mostly Chinese, to have a burden for purchasing more expensive property, so the Company lost a great number of this customers group.
According to the above factors, in the first half of the year, most customers delayed their decision to purchase properties, especially condominiums, which the number of booking decreased a lot, while low-rise projects were still in demand. As a result, the sales of low-rise projects slightly decreased, compared to condominium projects.
However, in the last quarter of the year, the government issued measures to stimulate the property sector, such as decreasing mortgage registration fees and ownership transfer fee, offering cash back on the down payment, and housing loans with low interest rates from banks due to the adjustment of monetary policy by decreasing the policy interest rate by 0.25%, resulting in the improvement of the overall property business.
According to the above-mentioned factors, the sales of the Company Group in the previous year decreased to 22,324 million Baht or accounting for 33%. The proportion of condominium projects and low-rise projects was 38% and 62%, respectively. The total revenue was 23,957million Baht, only decreased by 7%. The net profit was 5,403 million Baht, decreased by 6%. Regarding the debt repayment ability, it was found that the Company Group’s Interest-Bearing Debt-to-Equity ratio was only 34%, while the average finance cost was 2.3%. This represented the strong financial position so the Company still maintains the credit rating of “A/Stable” from TRIS Rating.
Currently, the Company Group has launched projects covering Bangkok and vicinity area, including large cities in other provinces across the nation, with a value of over 200,000 million Baht. Its sales backlog is approximately 38,655 million Baht. In 2020, the Company plans to launch new projects covering various locations nationwide with a focus on 5 core strategies as follows: 1) Create new products and new designs on new locations in demand, 2) Develop smart homes and apply technologies to provide convenience and safety to customers, 3) Add new segments and build high-end luxury homes and mixed-use condominiums, 4) Improve internal operating and data analysis processes to better access the actual needs of customers, and 5) Focus on business operations with social and environmental responsibility, such as the development of senior housing projects to be align with the Company’s mission that is “To create and develop innovation of products and services for good operating results by considering the interests of stakeholders”.
For this year, the Company has received numerous honorary awards from various leading organizations such as Outstanding Investor Relations Award and Thailand Sustainability Investment Award from the Stock Exchange of Thailand, ranked in the "Excellent" category for the seventh consecutive year from the Good Corporate Governance Survey of Thai Listed Companies in 2019 by the Thai Institute of Directors Association, received a full score of 100% from the AGM Checklist of the Year 2019 by Thai Investors Association for the eighth consecutive year, Thailand's Most Admired Company 2019 Award in the category of Services from Brand Age Magazine, Building Energy Code Award 2019 in the “Excellent” level in the category of condominiums from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, Ministry of Energy, Thailand Labour Management Excellence Award 2019 from the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare, Ministry of Labor, Silver Star for Children Award from UNICEF Thailand, etc., and also received 84.8% of satisfaction score towards services from customers in 2019.
Over the course of more than 30 years, the Company Group has focused on and been committed to the business sustainability, with an emphasis on creating a proper balance in 3 dimensions, namely economy, society, and environment, based on principles of good corporate governance and risk management, creating better quality of life for people in the society with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards sustainable development based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), continuously creating innovative housing solutions along with various aspects of social development, such as activities providing knowledge, education, family, health, environment, and art and culture. In addition, the Company also adheres to the principles of ethics and legitimacy together with developing partners to provide a full coverage of good principles for supply chain to create benefits to all stakeholders, including society as a whole to drive Supalai to become a sustainable business organization in the future.
(Dr.Prateep Tangmatitham)
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Supalai Public Company Limited