Earnings grow despite recent political unrest

Interior design of Ivy River

Thailand's property market leaders have recorded sales growth in the third quarter of this year despite the government declaring a state of emergency in August, a survey conducted by The Nation showed.

However, a number of small and mediumsized propertydeveloper companies still faced tough times because homebuyers preferred buying residential properties from mar¬ket leaders who own healthy brands and promise good product quality.

Preuksa Real Estate director and chief operating officer Prasert Taedullayasatit said the company's sales in the third quarter were higher than in the same period last year. It recorded presales of about Bt4.8 bil¬lion in the period.

"Homebuyers are still buying res¬idential projects although the gov¬ernment announced a state of emer¬gency and that can be seen through our presales, which stayed strong in the third quarter," he said.

Preuksa Real Estate posted rev¬enues of Bt5.5 billion and a net prof¬it of Bt947.38 million in the first half.

Asian Property Development chief executive Anuphong Assavabhokhin said the company's sales in the third quarter continued to record growth of up to 10 per cent compared to the preceding quarter.

When the government announced a state of emergency in Bangkok, the number of visitors at its residential project dropped 3 per cent to 5 per cent. However, visitors returned to the projects and its sales have also record¬ed strong growth. As a result, presales in the third quarter still managed to grow, he said.

However, small and mediumsized property companies said their residential projects had continued to face negative impact from the slow growth in the country's economy and because of the political turmoil.

NC Housing has revised its presales target from Bt1.9 billion to between Bt1.5 billion and Bt1.6 bil¬lion, responding to a delay in homebuyers' decisions to purchase property owing to the country's political turmoil.

"Our presales in the first eight months were just Bt1 billion, which is lower than our target. As a result, we have had to adjust our presales target from Bt1.9 billion to Bt1.5 billion or Bt1.6 billion this year. That may even affect our revenue target, which is now expected to be lower than our previous estimate of Bt1 billion by the end of the year," managing director Somchao Tanterdtham said.

NC Housing recorded a total rev¬enue of Bt383.39 million and a net loss of Bt7.53 million in the first half.

Somchao said a number of homebuyers delayed their decision when antigovernment protestors siezed Government House two weeks ago. As a result, the number of potential customers visiting its residential projects reduced from an average of 15 to 20 visitors a project a day to 10.