Real estate bounce leads Thailand’s recovery

Thailand is set to end the year on a high, with economic growth of 3-3.5% in the fourth quarter, but real estate firms are already on the rebound.

In his weekly Sunday-morning broadcast, Abhisit Vejjajiva primed listeners for negative third-quarter economic figures, which are due to be officially announced this week.

But a 65% climb in production and a 17-20% rise in tourism point to recovery for the year-end, he said.

‘The government is confident that the economy will definitely be positive in the fourth quarter and it should expand by 3% to 3.5%,’ he said.

The 10 leading property firms also registered a hefty rebound in the third quarter.

For instance, Land & Houses (L&H) saw its sales soar 40.8%, year-on-year, to 5.02 billion baht while its profit rose 34.7% to 1.15 billion baht. In the first nine months of 2009, the company beat forecasts with a net profit of 12.76 billion baht.

Preuksa Real Estate’s revenue rose 19% to 3.8 billion baht while its net profit went up 15% to 651 million baht in the third quarter. Revenue for the first nine months climbed 29% to 11.28 billion baht and net profit increased 32% to 1.97 billion baht.

For next year the company expects a 25-30% increase in sales.

Sansiri reported 11.11 billion baht revenue over the first nine months leading to a net profit of 1 billion baht – up 124% on the same period last year.

Supalai has also had an excellent year so far. A 69% rise in third-quarter revenue to 2.29 billion baht came with a 126% swell in net profit to 587.35 million baht. In the first nine months, revenue surged 51% to 6.95 billion baht and net profit shot up 113% to 1.8 billion baht.