ThaiBev (Y92): Harnessing Catalysts for Potential Share Price Recovery

20 Apr 2024

By Eric Lee, Sales Director, Phillip Nova

Introduction:

ThaiBev Group, a prominent beverage company in Southeast Asia and the largest in Thailand, had faced some rough times during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its robust business lines encompassing spirits, beer, non-alcoholic drinks, and food, its share price had experienced a significant decline. However, amid this adversity, there are crucial indicators and potential catalysts that investors should keep an eye on for the company’s share price to reverse its current downward trend.

 

Expansion and Diversification:

ThaiBev’s journey to prominence began with its listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2006. Subsequent strategic acquisitions, notably Fraser & Neave (F&N) in 2012 and Grand Royal Group (GRG) in 2017, positioned the company as a regional powerhouse in the beverage industry. These acquisitions not only expanded ThaiBev’s product portfolio but also solidified its presence in key markets such as Singapore, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

 

Challenges Amid COVID-19:

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ThaiBev’s share price has experienced a sharp decline, plummeting from its peak above $0.80 to levels below $0.50, reminiscent of 2014 prices. Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring an end to the global health emergency in May 2023, ThaiBev’s share price continued to slide, indicating persistent challenges beyond the pandemic’s immediate impact.

 

Key Catalysts for Share Price Recovery:

1) Improving Tourist Arrivals:

– Forecasts from the Bank of Ayudhya and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports suggest a significant uptick in tourist arrivals in Thailand, with estimates reaching pre-pandemic levels by 2024.

– Factors such as visa exemption policies, new flight routes, and increased flight frequencies are expected to drive this resurgence in tourism.

– Higher tourist arrivals would positively impact ThaiBev’s revenue, particularly through increased consumption of its beverage products.

2) Impending Federal Reserve Rate Cut:

– The THB/SGD exchange rate is currently at historically low levels, adversely affecting ThaiBev’s financial reporting as it earns in THB but trades on the Singapore Exchange in SGD.

 

 

– With Thailand’s Central Bank policy rate at 2.5% and predictions of modest headline inflation for 2024, there is room for further rate cuts to stimulate the economy.

– A potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve, exceeding that of Thailand’s Central Bank, could stabilise or even elevate the THB/SGD exchange rate, offering a much-needed boost to ThaiBev’s share price.

 

Conclusion:

ThaiBev Group’s resilience and strategic positioning in the ASEAN beverage market provides a strong foundation for potential share price recovery. However, overcoming the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic requires vigilant monitoring of key catalysts such as improving tourist arrivals and potential shifts in central bank policies. Investors poised to capitalise on these opportunities stand to benefit from ThaiBev’s long-term growth trajectory and resurgence in share price.

For more insights from Eric Lee, do not miss his upcoming webinar on 30 April on How to Use Smart Money As Your Investment Compass. Eric will discuss Smart Money strategies and its impact o, as we delve into the world of Smart Money and its impact on stock market trends. Don’t miss this webinar, register here.

 

Value-Added Service from Eric Lee

My clients benefited from my services including investment advisories in unit trust and stocks, investment insights based on my personal knowledge and experiences while navigating the markets for the past 20 years.

Periodically, I will be send out market analysis to my clients, as well as alerting them of support and resistance levels for the technical indicators which I am utilising on a chart. Click on the button at the bottom if you would like to arrange for a One-to-One Coaching session to learn more about trading futures, forex, stocks and more, and how you can benefit from the services I provide.


 

Eric Lee is a Sales Director with Phillip Nova. With expertise in Futures, Forex, Stocks, and Unit Trust, Eric makes an all-rounded advisor. Make informed trading decisions without spending time combing through endless information as Eric readily provides clients with trade alerts and insights via WhatsApp. Over his years of experience, Eric developed systematic strategies in trading and investing. Book a complimentary coaching session below to leverage on his expertise as he imparts his knowledge to enhance your trading journey.

An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is a marketable security that is formed to track nearly anything, ranging from a specific index, sector, commodity, or increasingly, theme. They are most commonly used to track a basket of stocks, and can typically be accessed through the same channels as regular stocks. ETFs are typically separated into passively-managed ETFs that simply mirror the security they are tracking (e.g. the STI), and actively managed ones that attempt to deliver higher returns or specific investment objectives, often with a pre-specified theme in mind (e.g. ARK Invest’s Innovation ETF).

Why should I trade in ETF CFDs?

  • ETFs have been growing in popularity over the years. 2020 was the best year for ETFs yet, with global equity ETFs seeing more than $1T in inflows within a 12-month period. Using CFDs to gain exposure to ETFs allows for greater capital efficiency because only a portion of the contract value is required as margin to establish a position.
  • ETFs are particularly popular with investors seeking a relatively hassle-free investing experience, while desiring exposure to a range of specific and relatively understandable securities. Trading ETF CFDs brings greater convenience by eliminating the need for traders to hold multiple currencies in order to access global ETFs.
  • An investor wanting exposure to the post-pandemic economic recovery could open a position in the well-known SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the performance of the S&P 500. Another investor that may be convinced of the future importance of Environmental, Social and Governance concerns (ESG) may find the increasing selection of ESG-themed ETFs that track a basket of high ESG-rating companies to be a good investment, rather than cherry-picking individual equities by hand. ETF CFDs can act as a powerful tool for traders can profit from both directions of the market by taking on long or short positions.

A look at two ETF CFDs we offer:

1) Has the ARKK been sunk?

ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) ARKK is an actively managed ETF by ARK Invest that invests in a range of companies based on their innovative and industry-disrupting potential. ARKK’s largest holdings are in companies such as Tesla, Square, and Zoom. ARKK is down around -33% from peaking on 12th Feb and is currently in the red for the year to date as the market experiences a risk-off outflow of funds. Superstar fund manager Cathie Wood has however been consistently doubling down on her bets, buying even more shares in growth stocks that are going through their own tumultuous periods such as DraftKings, Peloton, Teladoc, and Tesla. In her view, ARKK is playing the long game, and remains steadfastly convinced in the long-term prospects of these growth stocks beyond this current bout of volatility. Similarly on outflows, investors are still betting big on ARKK as ARK Invest has only lost about $1.2B in assets this year across all its six funds, compared to seeing an inflow of $15.1B during the same period. Recently, investors have been nervously eyeing ARKK’s basket of tech stocks as their future earnings potential remain vulnerable to erosion through high inflation – the dominant concern of the market in recent weeks. As commodities – the major contributor to the recent heightened inflation fears – drops sharply from record highs, are investor concerns over hyperinflation overblown?

2) Searching for exposure to Asian equities?

iShares MSCI Asia ex Japan ETF (AAXJ) The AAXJ is currently trading -10.6% adrift of all-time highs seen in February, giving up gains in tandem with an Asia-wide equity sell-off at the time. Given that slightly over 40% of the ETF’s holdings are based in China, the ongoing tumult seen in Chinese equities currently have carried over nearly perfectly in the AAXJ, as Chinese investors take a breather after the stellar gains made over the past year. Looking ahead, Asia – and particularly China, is steaming ahead with its economic recovery. China is widely expected to be one of the best-performing major economies this year, providing a major boost to the outlook for corporate earnings. As the rest of Asia and the world gradually opens up their own economies, AAXJ is likely to again benefit from strong Asian outperformance amidst a strengthening trade outlook.

CFD is available for trading on Phillip MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

Features of trading CFD:

  • Trade in both the bull and the bear markets
    The ability to enter a long and/or short position allow traders to take advantage of both rising and falling markets.
  • Smaller barrier to entry
    Flexible and smaller contract sizes. This means that traders will be able to enter into a contract with a modest amount of capital.
  • No expiration date or risk of delivery
    Unlike futures which commonly have a fixed expiration date, CFD allows traders to perpetually hold the position(s). CFD is cash settled, no need to worry about the delivery of the underlying asset.

 

Benefits of using Phillip MT5:

Trade at zero commission on a dynamic platform that offers low spreads. Integrated with Autochartist and Trading Central Indicators, and available on mobile, web and desktop app, you will never miss a trading opportunity with Phillip MT5.

Register for a FREE 30-day Phillip MetaTrader 5 Demo Account

More Market Trends

Weekly report courtesy of Eurex A jubilant mood on Wall Street, sideways movement on Europe’s stock markets – after the turbulent previous week, events still

Read More >

Strategic Futures Trading During US Election Week

Read More >