Charnchai Kongthongluck, chief executive director of Trinity Watthana Plc (TNITY), said that this year is expected to see an average daily trading turnover of Bt70 billion on the stock market.

“The overall securities business will likely be good for two more years, given the improved overall picture for the stock market. The daily trading turnover has risen,” he said.

Competition in the securities business continues to be high, constraining brokerage fees, he said. Trinity Securities, TNITY’s subsidiary, generates 40 per cent of total income from brokerage fees.

This year the company plans to launch a semi-automatic trade programme as its service strategy, allowing customers to trade securities more conveniently, Charnchai said.

The company expects investors’ return to outperform that of the overall market, he said.

Investors trading through the programme will be charged service fees, brokerage fees and investment portfolio management fees, while allowing for profit sharing if the company is able to make a better-than-agreed return.

Investment amounts of more than Bt300,000 will be allowed for trading through the programme. The company targets about 300-500 trading accounts to be traded through the programme, with an estimated management amount of Bt300-Bt500 million.

Montree Sornpaisarn, chief executive officer of Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand), said that the overall securities business has improved this year, with high daily trading turnover as a result of rebounds in the stock market amid its upward trend.

The company’s securities business may post a weaker performance in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period of last year when it did not experience staff losses. However, the operation would likely enjoy a recovery for the whole year of 2018, he said.

Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) has 200,000 trading accounts and expects to add 20,000 accounts this year. This year, the company would focus on extending more margin loans, Montree said. Currently, it has extended Bt12 billion in margin loans, compared with its capacity for margin loan extensions of Bt16 billion.

Margin loans will be directed to more retail customers, particularly those with smaller investment portfolios, while the stock value for margin loan extension would be more strictly assessed, Montree said.

In regard to investment banking, he expects five to seven companies to mobilise funds.