Thai billionaire’s Singapore-listed Frasers Property sees profit jump

SINGAPORE - Frasers Property, Singapore’s third-largest listed developer controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, saw full-year earnings rise 19.2 per cent, led by higher residential contributions from China and Australia.

Net profit climbed to $206.3 million in the fiscal year ended Sept 30, the company said in an exchange filing on Nov 13. That compared with $173.1 million reported in 2023. 

The profit jump was also helped by valuation gains on Singapore properties and industrial and logistics real estate in Europe and Australia, although they were partially offset by valuation losses on commercial assets in Britain and Australia. Revenue rose almost 7 per cent to $4.2 billion from a year earlier, beating a consensus analyst estimate of $3.65 billion. 

For Frasers Property, led by Mr Charoen’s son and chief executive Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, questions remain over where the company fits in with the ageing patriarch’s empire and succession plans. Mr Charoen, 80, has denied a report that he may sell off control of the real estate company.

Frasers Property remains “cautious about the macroeconomic environment” although it has taken steps to improve its strategic focus, Mr Panote said in a statement. The company also said it will “gradually increase” its development exposure in both residential and selected non-residential asset classes to deliver better risk-adjusted returns.

In July, a share swap was announced realigning the billionaire’s control of Frasers Property, with Thai Beverage exiting its sizeable stake in the developer. It now means the tycoon’s investment holding firm TCC Assets controls almost 87 per cent of Frasers Property, near a 90 per cent threshold for the suspension of trading under Singapore Exchange rules.

Like other Singapore developers, Frasers Property has struggled with underperformance in the stock market. Its shares are largely unchanged in 2024 through their close on Nov 12, versus a nearly 15 per cent rally in the benchmark Straits Times Index. 

Mr Charoen, who also controls ThaiBev, lost his status as Thailand’s richest person to energy tycoon Sarath Ratanavadi earlier in 2024, and now has a net worth of about US$12.4 billion (S$16.5 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Frasers Property is betting on marquee projects, including One Bangkok, a multibillion integrated development in Thailand’s capital, and a joint residential project in Singapore with local competitor City Developments and Sekisui House, a Japanese builder.

Still, it has faced various setbacks in Singapore, including failed bids by consortiums it was part of for a rental pilot site and another for an alternative business district in the city’s west. Both attempts were rejected by the authorities as they were priced too low.

Shares of Frasers Property rose 3 cents or 3.4 per cent to close at 91.5 cents on Nov 13. BLOOMBERG