Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

GUNKUL (GUNKUL TB): Solar to Drive Top-Line Growth

IPO Stalker: Thai Enger, Aggressive New Construction Company

Amata: Boring in Bangkok, Shining in Vietnam

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Equity Bottom-Up

During this quarter, we visited 13 companies and have to admit the average quality has improved. Amongst these, there were four stocks that impressed us the most, and the Oscars go to...<ul>
<li>
SSP acheiving profit growth in excess of 20% in the backdrop of Thai economic headwinds and Trumpian trade wars by expanding into countries unaffected by both issues.</li>
<li>
Amata VN capitalizing on the shift from locations with rising labor costs (eg Thailand, China) to Vietnam, which has more than a few geographic and demographic advantages.</li>
<li>
Gunkul, arguably Thailand's hottest renewable play at the moment delivering outsized long-term growth in solar/wind space as well as a promising solar roof game plan.</li>
<li>
TIGER, an aggressive and small construction company that has only IPO'd for less than a quarter and is already highlighting aggressive growth plans.</li>
</ul>

During this quarter, we visited 13 companies and have to admit the average quality has improved. Amongst these, there were four stocks that impressed us the most, and the Oscars go to...

SSP acheiving profit growth in excess of 20% in the backdrop of Thai economic headwinds and Trumpian trade wars by expanding into countries unaffected by both issues.

Amata VN capitalizing on the shift from locations with rising labor costs (eg Thailand, China) to Vietnam, which has more than a few geographic and demographic advantages.

Gunkul, arguably Thailand's hottest renewable play at the moment delivering outsized long-term growth in solar/wind space as well as a promising solar roof game plan.

TIGER, an aggressive and small construction company that has only IPO'd for less than a quarter and is already highlighting aggressive growth plans.


Company Visits: The Best of November/December 2018

Gunkul Engineering

Company Visits: The Best of November/December 2018