Land and Houses' third-quarter net profit fell sharply by 63.81 per cent to Bt531.97 million, from Bt1.47 billion in the same period last year.

Thailand's largest property developer blamed the economic slowdown and increased interest rates for a 44.87-per-cent year-on-year Bt2.89-billion drop in sales.

The property developer said high energy prices also pushed up raw-material costs and lowered the company's gross profit margin to 30.65 per cent, from 34.49 per cent in the same period last year.

With the decline in both sales and the gross profit margin, Land and Houses reported its quarterly gross profit slumped by Bt1.13 billion. Quality Houses saw its third-quarter net profit drop 57.79 per cent from the same period last year, to Bt101.22 million.

Although its revenues surged 12.6 per cent in the third quarter to Bt2.01 billion, this only offset part of the increase in its sales costs.

The company's total third-quarter sales costs increased by Bt290 million, or 24.1 per cent, year on year.

Property Perfect swung back into a net loss of Bt44.01 million in the third quarter, compared with a net profit of Bt180.33 million in the same period last year. The company explained that its poor quarterly earnings were attributed to declines in its sales revenues of 32 per cent year on year, its gross profit margin to 31.21 per cent from 35.72 per cent in the same period last year and its investment profit. Its selling and administrative expenses rose by Bt12.1 million.

Golden Land Property Development was the best performer in the period among its industry peers. It posted a third-quarter net profit of Bt50 million, compared with a Bt12.65-million net loss in the same period last year.

Asian Property was the second-best performer, with a whopping 207-per cent year-on-year rise, from Bt206.9 million in last year's third quarter to Bt636.18 million this year. However, the property developer explained that the stunning quarterly result could be ascribed to a gain of Bt752 million from the sale of its investment in City Asset Fund.

Areeya Property showed a big improvement, with a third-quarter net profit of Bt13.34 million, compared with a net loss of Bt5.03 million in the same period last year.

Prinsiri also turned in a strong performance in the third quarter, with its net profit rising 102.79 per cent year on year to Bt155.28 million.