Amata Corporation (AMATA), an industrial estate developer, saw its shares rise 3.91 per cent after Monday’s trade ended, from better-than-expected quarterly results and optimism that their is pent-up demand from overseas that will be realized this year.
AMATA rose to 18.360 baht per share on Monday with 667 million baht worth of transaction value. The rise in share price was based on better-than-expected profit in the last quarter of 2020 which stood at 499 million baht, up 125 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
While AMATA’s numbers were still down from 2019, its industrial estate revenue in the fourth quarter fell 25 per cent to 444 million baht year on year, there were strong signs of recovery from the pandemic as its revenue grew 51 per cent from the previous quarter.
An analyst at Krungsri Securities expects borders to reopen in the second half of 2021 and unlock pent-up demand for industrial property.
Amata’s land sales will recover to 750 rai and profits would jump 30 per cent year-on-year. the analyst added.
Total land sales in 2020 were 213 rai, down 67 per cent from 2019, which was below the company’s target of 400-500 rai. Its backlog as of 2020 was about 400 rai worth 1.9 billion baht.
WHA Corporation (WHA), another industrial estate developer, also rose 1.87 per cent to 3.26 baht after it announced its financial result.
Eastern Economic Corridor
The Thai government urged all related parties on Monday to improve regulations, privileges and facilitate ease of doing business to enhance investors’ confidence in its Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) program.
At a board meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, 46 per cent of applications for investment promotion by the Board of Investment (BoI) had passed, while the rest was due to be passed this year, said EEC Policy Committee’s secretary Kanit Saengsubhan.
The EEC aims to reach 300 billion baht in investment applications this year, compared to 96 billion baht of investment in 2019.
“The situation will depend on the Covid-19 outbreak as well,” Kanit added.
Japanese, Chinese and Dutch investors were the top three foreign investors in this economic zone, accounting for 115 billion baht or 55 per cent of the total investment in the EEC.
