Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Reuters Q&A: "How will Thai election outcome affect listed companies?"

The stock market jumped 4.7 percent on Monday and was steady on Tuesday. Here is a look at some likely stock market winners and losers under the new government.

WHICH SECTORS WILL WIN FROM POPULIST POLICIES?

Puea Thai plans easier access to credit, a jump in the minimum wage plus price subsidies that should spur consumption. This should boost the retail and property sectors.

Top convenience store chain CP All , whose shares hit a six-week high on Monday, retailer Big C Supercenter , Siam Makro and building materials supplier Home Product Center should benefit.

Puea Thai promises zero-percent mortgages, exemption from transfer and mortgage fees and a 50 percent cut in business tax for first homes priced below 4 million baht ($130,000).

Property firms will benefit as the policies will both boost demand and cut costs. Top homebuilder Land & Houses is among top picks and its shares hit an eight-week high on Monday.

Developers that focus on medium- to low-priced homes such as LPN Development , Supalai , Pruksa Real Estate and MK Real Estate could benefit the most.

Stronger demand and populist spending in rural areas should boost spending on house renovation, helping building material firms like Siam Cement and Siam City Cement .

Puea Thai is also expected to implement a policy of returning tax to first-time car buyers, which should stimulate demand and benefit car parts makers such as Somboon Advance Technology and AAPICO Hitech .

However, a big rise in the minimum wage will push up operating costs in labour-intensive industries. Hana Microelectromics , Star Microelectronic and Cal-Comp Electronics may be affected.

"If they try to introduce a 30 pct increase in six months, I think it's going to be very difficult for many, many businesses," Richard Han, chief executive of integrated circuit packager Hana, told Reuters.

"It will be a huge amount to absorb in that short space of time because manufacturers cannot improve their productivity to absorb that cost," he said.

read full Q&A here

No comments:

Post a Comment