Thai Beverage's 2QFY2024 earnings weighed down by associates

The company plans to maintain its interim dividend at 0.15 baht per share.

Thai Beverage has reported revenue of 71.6 billion baht for its 2QFY2024, up 6.3% y-o-y. However, earnings in the same period ended March dropped 4.9% to 6.99 billion baht.

This brings 1HFY2024 earnings to 15.2 billion baht, down 5.6% over the year-earlier period. Revenue, meanwhile, was down 0.4% to 147 billion baht.

The company maintains that turnover held steady amid a "challenging" economic situation.

Of the three main product segments, Thai Bev's spirits business recorded attributable profit to shareholders of 5.8 billion baht for the quarter, up 2.3% y-o-y.

The company's beer segment, meanwhile, enjoyed strong growth for both its top line and bottom line, as Thai Bev was able to sell a bigger volume at higher prices even as cost were held lower. 

For 2QFY2024, attributable profit to shareholders for the beer business was up 35.1% y-o-y to 755 million baht.

Last but not least, the non-alcoholic beverages business reported a sharp jump in attributable profit to shareholders of 281 million baht, up 81.3% y-o-y.

While the various business segments enjoyed "satisfactory" ebitda from effective cost management, the company's overall bottom line was weighed down by a decline in net profit from its associates, which includes Frasers Property Tq5.

All in, associated companies contributed earnings of 161 million baht in 2QFY2024, versus 940 million baht in the year-earlier quarter. 

The company plans to maintain its interim dividend at 0.15 baht per share.

Thai Bev shares closed at 49 cents on May 13, unchanged for the day but down 9.26% year to date.