Rayong Refinery Plc said yesterday that it was considering postponing its initial-public-offering share allocation from next month to May.

"We are seeking the right time, as local uncertainty is high while overseas markets are performing well. We will decide soon," said Prasert Bunsampant, president of PTT, which owns Rayong Refinery.

The refinery plans to raise about Bt30 billion from the listing, which, when it goes ahead, will see PTT's shareholding diluted to 50 per cent.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to finance capacity expansion.

Thirteen other companies have also postponed their IPOs due to anxiety that the country's current political turmoil will result in disappointing debuts.

All 13 have been given the go-ahead for their IPOs from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

They include Bangkok Metro Plc, Rock Garden Plc, and Thai Optical Group Plc.

So far this year only two companies - G Steel Plc and City Steel Plc - have listed on the stock market and both suffered poor debuts with stock falling 16.8 per cent and 2.04 per cent, respectively, below their IPO prices.

Meanwhile, the Stock Exchange of Thailand's senior vice president, Sethaput Suthiwart-Narueput, said in the quarterly SET Corporate Update Note that listed companies had mobilised Bt107 billion last year, Bt38 billion of which was raised in the fourth quarter alone.

The financial sector raised the largest amount of fresh capital in the final quarter with aggregate value of Bt24.3 billion, accounting for 66 per cent.

Thanachart Bank mobilised about Bt6.9 billion and United Overseas Bank (Thai) raised Bt16.7 billion following the merger between UOB Radanasin Bank and Bank of Asia.

Sethaput said the net current capital of listed companies - with the exception of the financial and rehabilitation sectors - in the fourth quarter had risen by Bt42 billion from the corresponding period a year ago.

This significant increase in net current capital reflects a climate in which it is not necessary for listed companies to borrow from financial institutions or even raise additional funds.

Their debt-to-equity and interest-coverage ratios at 1.2 times and 6.9 times, respectively, indicate a healthy financial position and relatively low risk.

However, profitability for listed companies in the fourth quarter deteriorated as their aggregate net profit margin dropped by 2 per cent from the same period a year before due mainly to higher costs, particularly in the technology sector.

The lower quarterly net interest margin also brought returns on equity down from 22.2 per cent in the same period a year earlier to 19 per cent. Yet, their return on capital employed - reflecting efficiency in using financial resources - also fell, from 19.1 per cent to 17 per cent.

The aggregate investment in permanent assets of listed companies, excluding the financial and companies under rehabilitation sectors, fell by 27 per cent year on year to Bt123.6 billion.

Service, resource, and property and construction sectors were the largest investors in the period.