This is following its return of investment from property projects in Australia booking up to 5 per cent of its net profit in the end of 2018, he said.

In the end of 2018, Supalai records total revenue Bt25.18 billion and net profit Bt5.77 billion.

With growth in gross domestic product topping 4 per cent in 2018, the improved mood in the market also saw sales at most of the companies climb, reaching a combined revenue of Bt231.48 billion, up 5.44 per cent from 2017.

Pruksa Holdings Plc led the way on revenue, booking Bt44.9 billion for growth of 2.2 per cent from 2017. It made Bt6.02 billion in net profit for the year, up 10.4 per cent.

Land & Houses recorded net profit of Bt10.47 billion for the period, up 0.09 per cent from the previous year, although its total revenue of Bt30.51 billion marked a 3.81 per cent drop from 2017.

Quality Houses Plc and Ananda Development Plc also experienced declines in total revenue compared with the previous year, but each showed net profit growth.

Supalai Plc’s total 2018 revenue was higher than in 2017, but its net profit dropped.

Sansiri Plc booked Bt27.16 billion in total revenue for 2018, a 15 per cent drop from the previous year, along with a 28 per cent slump in net profit to Bt2.04 billion.

When the figures are combined for the top 10 listed property firms, the 2018 financial results are stronger than in 2017 for both revenue and net profit.

AP (Thailand) Plc experienced high growth in both total revenue and net profit. It expects both measurements to remain strong this year. The developer predicts growth based on plans to launch 39 residential projects worth Bt56.8 billion this year, the company’s chief for corporate strategy and creation, Vittakarn Chandavimol, told a press conference yesterday.

Asia Plus Securities Co Ltd’s vice president, Terdsak Taweethiratham, pointed to the property sector’s revenue and net profit growth last year. He noted that for the last quarter buyers came in amid concerns about a new Bank of Thailand (BOT) measure to increase loan down payments from the current 10 per cent, to 20 and 30 per cent for second and third homes.

He said the signals were there for a drop in the property sector after the BOT’s measure comes into effect on April 1.

The company aims to build differentiation and bring modern innovation to develop quality projects for the new generation.

Meanwhile, its 2019 presales are forecast to more than double last year’s level, at Bt5.4 billion.

Chief executive officer Sornsak Somwattana said the outlook for the property market in 2019 was not as bright as expected because there were negative factors affecting the industry, such as the rising interest-rate trend and banks’ stricter regulations for extending loans to finance property projects.

Besides, the Thai economy this year is not forecast to grow at a higher pace than in 2018, he said.

When looking at the overall market, the high-end property segment has the least impact from these negative factors, and luxury detached housing and townhouse projects still have high growth potential with strong demand from real buyers, he added.

With more than 15 years’ experience in developing luxury residential projects, together with a good understanding of lifestyle and housing requirements from new-generation customers, the company sees vast opportunities to develop a new living solution to serve demand from the new generation, the CEO explained.

This year, Nirvana Daii is ready to move forward with its new strategy under the “Living Revolution” concept, which aims to revolutionize the property business and develop a new solution for home-buyers.

The company is focused on developing new housing designs, which are much differentiated from others’ designs, and using innovation to sustainably build a good quality of life for new-generation customers.

Nirvana Daii plans to develop 11 new residential projects, covering detached housing, townhouses and condominiums, under the “Living Revolution” concept this year.

“We have developed the application and software to serve customers’ demand for buying residential properties in all our locations and at any time,” Tawicha told The Nation in a recent interview.

“We aim to support those of our customers who want to book online after they visit our projects and made a decision to buy after returning to their homes.”

The company began rolling out its online booking option when it first allowed customers to pre-book online during a June 2018 presale. That year, the company succeeded in selling Bt2 billion in property through the online booking process, out of total presale value of Bt48.5 billion, Tawicha said.

Sansiri Plc was joined by other listed property firms in opening up online booking since 2018. But the pre-booking times have been limited to a one-day period because the current booking systems must be kept in a separate and secure environment, apart from the traditional booking process under the marketing management approach.

For example, AP (Thailand) Plc allowed online pre-booking for five projects last year for only 10 per cent of its total 6,422 units launched last year. All 650 units made available online were sold, delivering Bt3.15 billion through that channel. The fastest time for online booking was the sale of 112 units in two minutes for the Life One Wireless project.

Ananda Development Plc also brought online booking to the pre-opening sales for its eight condominium projects in 2017-18, worth Bt3.58 billion. The most productive period for online booking was a one-hour period when 52 units were sold.

Most such sales, however, remain limited to booking on a fixed date and not at all times, due to limitations imposed by the available technology as well as the need for developers to balance their marketing system between online and traditional channels.

But seeing the potential within reach, Tawicha said Sansiri is working to respond within the framework of an economy of speed, responding to changes in customer-shopping behaviour that require speedy and readily available sales closings. The company must develop a marketing process, and especially a sales system, that works for customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

According to data analytics of their customers’ behaviour, the fastest time to book through an app or online is within one second. But if the customer stays on the web or app more than five minutes, they will not buy, Tawicha said.

The company has already adopted information technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all of its business processes, beginning with a survey to pinpoint appropriate locations to develop residential projects. For that the company devel

oped the Bangkok Model to match with the Bangkok map in order to align undeveloped land with market demand. Parallel software has been developed to match other locations, including a map of Hua Hin.

Then the company turns to the PRIMAVERA program, a unique software tool for project planning, control, monitoring and reporting. It is useful for all engineers in the field of project management.

Through its use of information technology to support both finding the right land and proceeding with design and construction, the company has reduced construction costs by up to 15 per cent from the traditional approach. It also has reduced the time required for a project and speeded up all aspects of the construction process, Tawicha said.

The company now also purchases all of its raw materials through blockchain,

allowing them to speed up their administration while also controlling raw material prices.

“We also have more prototype projects to develop applications and software to serve customer demand, and we are adopting a “green” concept construction system for project sites that will take an average six to 10 months from development to launch, said Tawicha.

The company now has in excess of 50 research projects under study, with a total investment budget up to Bt600 million a year.

“From our research and development of technology that we first use for Sansiri Plc’s residential projects, we may then be able to open up to commercialise our technologies to other property firms if they need them. This is the way to develop technology to be our own profit centre for the long term,” Tawicha concluded.

The strong results reflected REIT managers’ abilities to acquire new high-quality tenants for their factory and warehouse portfolio, as well as efficient management of costs and operational expenses, said Frasers Property Industrial REIT Management (Thailand) Co Ltd’s managing director, Peerapat Srisukont

The Board of FIRM approved dividend payments of Bt0.1670 per share, an increase of 4.4 per cent from Bt0.16 per share in the previous quarter.

During the first quarter of the fiscal year ended 2019, Frasers Property (Thailand) monetised assets in eight industrial and logistics parks to support its growth. These assets are in strategic locations like Chon Buri, Samut Prakan, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Prachin Buri, with total asset value of over Bt1.907 billion and total gross floor area of 72,775 square metres.

During the same quarter, FTREIT also successfully issued debentures at a competitive interest cost for investment in the above-mentioned assets. The subscription saw an overwhelming response from investors. As a result, FTREIT maintains its leadership position as Thailand’s largest industrial and logistics REIT with assets valued at over Bt36 billion.