LH chief Anant tops SET shareholder list

General news - Thursday December 13, 2007

STOCK MARKET / ANNUAL WEALTH SURVEY

LH chief Anant tops SET shareholder list

POST REPORTERS

Property tycoon Anant Asavabhokhin once again has topped the list of wealthiest investors in the Stock Exchange of Thailand with holdings of 13.23 billion baht.

Mr Anant, the chief executive and 20.9% shareholder of Land & Houses Plc, has led the annual poll by Money and Banking magazine in five of the last 13 years, most recently the 2006 poll with a net worth of 13.13 billion baht.

Ranked second for 2007 was Thongma Vijitpongpun, the 62.19% shareholder of Preuksa Real Estate, at 11.15 billion baht, followed by Premchai Karnasuta, the boss of top contractor Italian-Thai Development.

The annual poll is based on individual shareholdings of listed stocks as of Sept 30. A total of 4,831 investors held 0.5% or more in listed companies, with a combined value of 476.18 billion baht, or 29.76% higher than in the same period in 2006.

Ranked fourth was Prasert Prasattong-Osoth, the head of the medical services giant Bangkok Dusit Medical Services. Dr Prasert, also the founder of non-listed Bangkok Airways, rose two spots from the previous year, with shareholdings increasing 49.89% to 6.27 billion baht as of Sept 30.

Taking fifth spot was Vorajate Indamra, whose 78.38% stake in Sea Horse and 4.96% in Bangkok First Investment and Trust were valued at 6.17 billion baht. Mr Vorajate shot up the ranks from 661st in the 2006 poll with the takeover of the seafood processor Sea Horse last year.

Rounding out the top-10 list of top individual shareholders were Vicha Poolvaraluck, Nijaporn Charanachitta, Pravit Maleenont, Niti Osathanugrah and Vikrom Kromadit.

The Maleenont family, meanwhile, maintained its top position as the country's wealthiest family in terms of SET shareholdings. Its holdings in BEC World, Sikarin and CVD Entertainment were valued at 26.47 billion baht, up 36.28% from the year before.

The Asavabhokhin family rose to second place in the 2007 poll, with a total of 17.84 billion baht from its holdings of LH, Mandarin Hotel, Quality Houses and AP Property. The family's shareholdings rose 12.37% from the 2006 poll.

Falling one spot to third was the Chirathivat family, with a combined net worth of 16 billion baht, up 0.61% from the previous year. The family's listed shareholdings include Central Pattana, Central Hotels, Big C, Abico and Dhanamitr Factoring. Ranked fourth in family holdings was the Vijitpongpun family, up 26.04% to 13.25 billion baht, followed by the Prasattong-Osoth family, up 53.3% to 7.8 billion.

Bangkok Post