Survival of the Construction Business Group in 2017 TerraBKK Research <\/span><\/strong>tracked the financial performance of public companies based on the latest disclosure from the stock market in 2017. It was found that Italian-Thai Development (ITD)<\/strong> generated the highest revenue in the group at 56.1 billion baht, but the profit figures were led by Sahakol Equipment (SQ)<\/strong> with the highest EBIT Margin of 17.96% in the group, while Prebuilt (PREB)<\/strong> maintained the highest NET Profit Margin in the group at 14.58% and the highest ROA at 15.63%. The highest ROE was recorded by Powerline Engineering (PLE)<\/strong> at 69.29%. TerraBKK Research<\/strong><\/span> summarized the financial performance data regarding sales, net profit, ROE, ROA, EBIT Margin, and NET Profit Margin as follows:<\/span><\/p>

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             Comparison of Sales and Net Profit<\/span> of the 3 giants in our construction industry: Italian-Thai Development (ITD)<\/strong> generated the highest revenue of 56.1 billion baht, but its profit figures were not as impressive. Meanwhile, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction (STEC)<\/strong> generated revenue of 21.2 billion baht but incurred a loss of 611 million baht due to rising construction costs and delays in large construction contracts. Ch. Karnchang (CK)<\/strong> was the winner with the highest net profit in the group at 1.81 billion baht, followed by Powerline Engineering (PLE)<\/strong> with a net profit of 1.13 billion baht from the sale of investments in Bhumrung Muang Plaza (BMP) to new investors. In terms of continuous growth in revenue and profit (Up Trend), three companies stand out<\/strong>: Unique Engineering and Construction (UNIQ), Syntec Construction (SYNTEC), and Sahakol Equipment (SQ) have shown consistent growth over the past 3-4 years, while Pylon (PYLON) has shown a continuous downward trend (Down Trend)<\/strong> in both revenue and net profit.<\/span><\/p>

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           The construction business is one of the sectors with a volatile return on equity (ROE)<\/span>, and many companies experience significant fluctuations in their figures each year, often in the double digits both up and down.<\/span><\/strong> For example, Powerline Engineering (PLE), BJC Heavy Industry (BJCHI), and STP&I (STPI) have shown such volatility. Therefore, when looking at the maintenance of figures above 20% for three consecutive years, only two companies stand out<\/strong>: Prebuilt (PREB) at 33.77% (2017), 45.7% (2016), 22.45% (2015) and Syntec Construction (SYNTEC) at 21.76% (2017), 22.66% (2016), 20.13% (2015). These companies are not classified as having a continuous growth trend (Up Trend); only three companies<\/strong> are: Powerline Engineering (PLE), Thai Polycons (TPOLY), and Italian-Thai Development (ITD). Meanwhile, the companies showing a downward trend (Down Trend) include 8 companies<\/strong>: Sahakol Equipment (SQ), Ch. Karnchang (CK), TRC Construction (TRC), TTCL Public Company Limited (TTCL), Sriracha Construction (SRICHA), Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction (STEC), BJC Heavy Industry (BJCHI), and STP&I (STPI).<\/span><\/p>

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           Prebuilt (PREB) has the highest return on assets (ROA)<\/span> in the group for 2017,<\/strong> reflecting the company's efficiency in utilizing assets for good returns. The latest figures are 15.63% (2017), 20.03% (2016), and 8.18% (2015). However, the company with the most significant jump in figures is Powerline Engineering (PLE) at 15.26% (2017) from 4.89% (2016) due to the sale of investments in Bhumrung Muang Plaza (BMP) to new investors, categorized as a company with a continuous growth trend (Up Trend)<\/strong>, along with Syntec Construction (SYNTEC), Thai Polycons (TPOLY), and Italian-Thai Development (ITD). Meanwhile, the companies showing a downward trend (Down Trend) include 8 companies<\/strong>: Thai Polycons (TPOLY), Sahakol Equipment (SQ), TRC Construction (TRC), TTCL, Sriracha Construction (SRICHA), BJC Heavy Industry (BJCHI), STP&I (STPI), and EMC.<\/span><\/p>

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            The figures for EBIT Margin and NET Profit Margin<\/span> of construction companies with a relatively high average over 3 years in the group<\/strong> include Thai Polycons (TPOLY), Prebuilt (PREB), and Syntec Construction (SYNTEC). For 2017, Sahakol Equipment (SQ)<\/strong> achieved the highest EBIT Margin of 17.96% in the group, and Prebuilt (PREB)<\/strong> maintained the highest NET Profit Margin in the group at 14.58%. Looking at the trend of continuous growth in profit figures (Up Trend), there are 6 companies<\/strong>: Powerline Engineering (PLE), Seafco (SEAFCO), Syntec Construction (SYNTEC), Thai Polycons (TPOLY), Italian-Thai Development (ITD), and EMC. On the other hand, the companies showing a downward trend in profit figures (Down Trend)<\/strong> include Thai Polycons (TPOLY), Sahakol Equipment (SQ), TTCL, Sino-Thai (STEC), Sriracha Construction (SRICHA), BJC Heavy Industry (BJCHI), and STP&I (STPI).<\/span><\/p>

               Finally, the financial performance of the construction sector regarding the debt-to-equity ratio (D/E) over the past 3 years<\/strong> revealed 4 companies with poor capital structure management and high financial risk: Italian-Thai Development (ITD) at 5.52 times, TTCL at 4.84 times. Two other companies that previously had higher-than-normal figures improved in 2017: Powerline Engineering (PLE) at 2.91 times (2017) from 7.19 times (2016) and 28.87 times (2015), and Ch. Karnchang (CK) at 2.36 times (2017) from 3.4 times (2016) and 3.53 (2015). Other construction companies are not concerning as they remain within normal limits of not exceeding 2 times.<\/strong> ---TerraBKK<\/span><\/strong><\/p>

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