Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand reported a net profit of Bt208.99 billion in the third quarter of this year, a 251.68-per-cent rise from the same period last year, supported by falling costs and no losses from foreign-exchange rates and impairment.
Meanwhile, companies listed on Market for Alternative Investment reported a 34.51-per-cent year-on-year increase in net profit to Bt1.96 billion in the quarter. As for the first nine months of 2016, it reported a combined net profit of Bt6.14 billion, a 2.05-per-cent rise from a year earlier, said Santi Karanand, |SET senior executive vice president.
He added that the improved overall performance of Thai listed companies in the first nine months corresponded to the macroeconomic factors that have recovered mainly from services and consumer business.
There were nine sectors that reported growth in total sales, net profits and gross profit margin in the January-September |period compared with the same period last year. They were banking, property development, food and beverage, steel, fashion, |packaging, home and office products, professional services, and paper and printing materials.

RINGGIT SLIDES AGAINST SINGDOLLAR
The battered Malaysian ringgit has fallen to its weakest level in more than a year against the Singapore dollar.
One Singdollar could buy 3.11 ringgit  yesterday, the weakest the Malaysian currency has been since last September.
The ringgit also slid to 4.433 against the US dollar – its weakest since January.
The ringgit has been Asia’s worst-performing currency since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on November 8, which sparked a global sell-off in emerging markets.
Malaysia’s central bank has ordered foreign banks to stop offshore speculation in |the ringgit, warning of “prompt supervisory intervention” against those trading the |ringgit in the offshore market. – The Straits Times