Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand reported a drop of 11.31% in their combined 2014 net profits to 701.59 billion baht on sales totalling 11.51 trillion baht, up 3.61% year-on-year.

For the fourth quarter of 2014, their combined net profits plummeted by 58.87% to 68.3 billion baht, weighed down by the lacklustre performances of energy and petrochemical companies in the wake of the oil slump. Sales slid 3.44% to 2.83 trillion baht during the quarter.

Chanitr Charnchainarong, the SET executive vice-president, said in a statement on Friday that 526, or 97.95%, of all listed companies had filed their 2014 operating results as of March 6. Of the reporting companies, 435 booked 11.51 trillion baht in combined sales, up 3.61% from 2013.

Net profits, however, fell 11.31% to 11.51 trillion baht, largely due to the shrinking net profits of energy, petrochemical and utility companies, which were hard hit by inventory losses in the wake of an oil price slump in the latter half of 2014, he said.

“Listed companies saw higher sales despite the economic slowdown. The gross profit margin was 18.48%, on par with last year’s figure,” Mr Chanitr said.

Excluding extraordinary items, their net profits increased by 1.81%. The most profitable sectors were: banking, information and communication technology, property development, food and beverages and insurance, he said.

“The companies in these sectors made up 58.06% of the combined net profits and 23.20% of total sales,” he said.

The SET index had risen 4.72% for the year to date as of Friday, with market capitalisation of 14.7 trillion baht.

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