Despite Thailand’s alcohol ban from early April to early May, sales of spirits only declined about 8 per cent for the April-June quarter, while Ebitda dipped about 3 per cent, Ms Cai noted.
DBS Group Research on Monday reiterated its “buy” call and TP of 90 cents, as ThaiBev’s operating performance is tracking “well within expectations”. The group’s Ebitda for the nine months to June is at 85 per cent of the research team's full-year forecast, similar to the previous fiscal year. The group’s beer business was also hit by the alcohol ban in Thailand as well as Covid-19 related lockdowns in Thailand and Vietnam, with the segment’s sales slumping 14.2 per cent on the year to 79.32 billion baht.
In contrast, the beer business’ Ebitda declined 9.3 per cent to 8.83 billion baht. The food segment’s Ebitda almost halved to 751 million baht from 1.42 billion baht a year ago, due to Thailand’s prohibition on dining out from April to mid-May. Meanwhile, CGS-CIMB reiterated its “hold” call and TP of 70 cents on the stock, saying it likes Thaibev’s ability to control its costs.