Bangkok: Thai stocks rebounded as most listed companies announced dividend payments with high or better-than-expected yields. Part of the reason is that PTT announced a dividend payment for 2024 at 2.10 baht per share from a net profit of 90,072 million baht, representing a return of 6.6 percent and a Dividend Payout Ratio of 67 percent, the highest payout ratio since PTT entered the Stock Exchange of Thailand. This helps the government sector, which is a major shareholder, to have more money coming into the state and improve returns for shareholders. This is part of the policy to take care of stakeholders in a balanced manner.
According to Thai News Agency, PTT has already paid an interim dividend of 0.80 baht per share, leaving a dividend of 1.30 baht per share for the second half of 2024. The list of shareholders entitled to receive dividends (Record Date) is set for March 7, and the dividend payment date is April 29, 2025.
Mr. Kongkrapan Intarajang, Chief Executive Officer and President of PTT Public Company Limited, reiterated that there is no plan to buy back shares and will continue to improve performance with a comprehensive cost reduction plan to find business opportunities. He confirmed that there will be no merger of the refinery and petrochemical businesses, but rather, he is looking for stronger partners and is currently in talks with several to become partners in its refinery and petrochemical subsidiaries. PTT will maintain its major shareholding in its subsidiaries, and PTT also has new EBITDA Uplift plans in the short, medium, and long term, such as the Mission X project to improve production and other aspects of each company, with a target to increase the group's EBITDA by a total of 30 billion baht, and the Digital Transformation project to increase efficiency by a total of 2 billion baht. PTT is committed to creating energy security, creating growth alongside reducing greenhouse gases, and taking care of all sta keholders in a balanced manner, while driving Thailand towards a sustainable future.