The downgrade reflects the listed developer’s continued and expected rise in financial leverage, the results of an aggressive investment plan, and the fact that sales of completed condominium units have been slower than expected, TRIS said.

The rating continues to reflect the good quality of the company’s hotel properties and its experience as a property developer.

It is constrained by high administrative expenses and an ongoing rise in leverage as several large real-estate projects are being developed at the same time.

The rating also takes into consideration the nature of the hotel industry, which is characterised by intense competition and high sensitivity to uncontrollable external factors, and the cyclicality of the property market, the ratings firm added.

Advertising spending on TV, outdoor media, and transit media rose 3.17 per cent, 2.14 per cent, and 2.66 per cent respectively. However, cable/satellite saw a 10.10-per-cent drop year on year, as did radio (9.84 per cent), newspapers (22.49 per cent), magazines (27.49), cinemas (15.63 per cent), in-store (7.95 per cent) and internet (21.43 per cent), the report said.

The top three brands for spending were: Sanook Shopping Direct Sales, TV Direct Sales, and Government Savings Bank.

Meanwhile, advertising spending in the first four months of this year recorded Bt32.7 billion, down 1.48 per cent from the same period of last year, the research said.

TV and transit media saw ad spending growth of one per cent and 8.13 per cent respectively in the first four months of this year compared with the same period of last year, while other media also saw their ad spending drop, the research showed.

The rise was due mainly to increased income from the listed food group’s overseas investments, which accounted for 67 per cent of sales, with the remainder coming from domestic business, according to the company’s report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

First-quarter net profit, meanwhile, skyrocketed by 40 per cent year on year to Bt4.279 billion.

The rising profit derived mainly from improving pig business in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, following a significant price slump due to oversupply during the first quarter of last year.

However, the situation now has returned to normal, CPF said, thanks to well-managed production efficiency, which had also raised the company’s overall year-on-year gross profit margin to increase from 9 per cent to 14 per cent in the first three months of the year.

Sooksunt Jiumjaiswanglerg, chief executive officer for Agro Industrial Business and co-president of CPF, pointed out that an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Vietnam could affect pork prices in the area.

Farmers would rush to sell pigs over worries about the virus, which would initially cause an oversupply problem on the market.

However, the outbreak will then decrease pig supply in affected areas, which will pull up prices due to the resulting shortage, the CEO explained.

More broadly, the company expects to achieve its annual goals this year, with improved performance compared to last year, despite fluctuations in the price of pork in the Vietnamese market due to ASF, he added.

In terms of investment, CPF is focusing on business expansion and value-added products, such as via the acquisition of HyLife, a Canadian pork producer.

The HyLife investment, which will allow CPF to access premium pork markets such as Japan and China, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, Sooksunt said.

The company sees opportunity to grow from overseas operations, such as those in China, Vietnam, Russia, the United States and the Philippines.

CPF’s revenue target is to reach Bt800 billion through growth of 6-7 per cent per year in the next five years, while overseas sales will account for 75 per cent of total sales in that timescale, the chief executive said.

However, the company’s figures show a net profit of Bt30.84 million in the first quarter, up 373 per cent from the same period of 2018.

With high net-profit growth, the company’s board of directors approved payment of an interim dividend of Bt0.13 per share for those shareholder who hold on to its shares till May 28, 2019. It is to pay the dividend on June 7, 2019, the company’s chief executive officer Sermkhun Kunawong said on Monday.

Jubilee believes that its total revenue and net profit will continue growth for the rest of this year, during which the company is planning to open five new branches to boost its sales, the company’s chief executive officer Unyarat Pornprakit said.

Currently, the company has 131 branches nationwide, as well as 160,000 club members.

The company also recorded Bt8.16 million in net profit for the quarter, up 1.37 per cent from 2018 same period.

The company currently has a total backlog worth Bt1.44 billion, up 10.57 per cent from the same period of last year.

“We are confident we can maintain our business growth in the rest of this year,” the company’s managing director Thirapat Chirapipat said on Monday.

The company also recorded Bt21.68 million in net profit for the quarter, up 136.42 per cent from the same period 2018.

The company currently has a total backlog worth Bt1.44 billion, up 10.57 per cent from the period in 2018.

“We expect our sales will maintain growth [and] we are negotiating with our partners from Taiwan and Japan to distribute their products,” the company’s chief executive officer Soonthree Chanlongbutra said on Monday. “The company is confident we will maintain our business growth in the rest of this year.”

The company also showed Bt204.5 million in net profit for the quarter, up 63.8 per cent from the same period of 2018.

The company is confident it will maintain its business growth in the rest of this year, chief executive officer Chanwit Anakkul said.