Message from the Board of Directors

The real estate industry fell under multiple uncontrollable factors in 2023, chiefly the lower-than-expected economic growth. Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded only 1.9% in the year, even lower than 2.5% in 2022. The meagre growth could not shore up the purchasing power which was under the pressure of increasing interest rates and persistently high household debts. Aside, commercial banks heightened lending restrictions, leading to a higher rejection rate particularly among lower to medium-income buyers who constituted real residential demand. Together with the absence of attractive stimulus measures, the Company could not achieve the sale and ownership transfer targets. Nevertheless, the hotel business’s revenue stream continued to pick up as the number of tourist arrivals increased in line with tourism recovery and the government’s free visa policy.

In 2023, the consolidated revenue increased by 4.5% to Bt10,824 million. Of total, the property development business contributed Bt7,171 million, down by 9%. While the revenue from low-rise projects dropped by 15.8%, that of high-rise projects increased by 18.9%. Meanwhile, the revenue of the hotel business amounted to Bt2,406 million, up by 54.3%; rents and service fee, Bt489 million or a 32.5% increase; land sale, Bt758 million. Seven new projects, entirely low-rise, were launched with the combined value of Bt9,705 million. Six of them, valued at Bt7,505 million, belonged to the Company, and the other project worth Bt2,200 million was launched together with a business partner. The owner’s equity of the Company was subtracted by the Bt196 million operating loss. The debt-to-equity ratio stayed at 1.5x.

In 2024, the Board of Directors will drive the operations with caution as the aforementioned factors should remain. Aside from maintaining liquidity to accommodate the impacts, the Company needs to further strengthen the financial position as the COVID-19 pandemic is far behind. Financial strengths have been our objective even before the outbreak, emphasizing consistent and sustainable growth and acceleration of asset liquidation to reduce liabilities.

In the pipeline, 7 new low-rise projects will be launched with the combined value of Bt7,700 million. Offering medium-priced and luxury units, they will be located in the areas that the Company is familiar with and have shown warm responses. In this regard, the emphasis is on construction cost control, to maintain profitability and pricing at a competitive level. We also expect joint projects to generate Bt3,770 million in revenue.

The hotel properties under Grande Asset Hotels and Property Public Company Limited, a subsidiary, showed further improvement due to tourism recovery as Thailand expects 35-40 million tourist arrivals in 2024. In performing our duties, the Board of Directors will uphold good governance and sustainable development, with concerns about society, community and the environment.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all shareholders, customers, investors, suppliers, business partners and financial institutions for their continuous supports. The gratitude is also extended to the Management and all employees for their endurance and devotion throughout the past year.