Bualuang Securities Plc executive vice president and head of individual research group Chaiyaporn Nompitakcharoen said listed companies were expected to see an improvement year on year in net profit during the first quarter of this year, as many industries such as banking and finance, energy, |auto, industrial estate, ICT, petrochemical, food, property, and electrical appliances are showing recovery.

Meanwhile, the company is confident that listed companies will show high net profit growth in the second quarter of this year. According to the firm, net profit could see up to 30 per cent growth year on year. The same period last year had seen net profits of Bt214 billion.

The growth will come from the upsurge in the country’s economy boosting strong demand for several sectors, especially hospitality, entertainment, retail, banking and financial, energy and petrochemical, he said.

Meanwhile, Asia Plus Securities Co Ltd’s research manager, Pobchai Phatrawitb said that currently, 172 listed companies who make up about 55 per cent of total market capitalisation had announced total net profits of Bt214 billion, up 4 per cent from the same period of last year.

Asia Plus Securities Co Ltd has forecast that the net profit of listed companies in the first quarter of this year will be flat year on year, or possibly even lower as most of the listed firms banking on export earnings have been hit by the strong baht.