Investment/WHA Group

Editorial staff

WHA Corporation Plc (WHA Group) reported its Q1/2024 revenue 3.93 billion baht, an increase of 61% and net profits of 1.36 billion baht, an increase of 161%.

Furthermore, the shareholders' meeting resolved to approve an additional dividend payment for the 2023 fiscal year at 0.1170 baht per share. The dividend payment is scheduled for 24 May 2024.

This reflects the financial strength and continuous growth of the operational performance of WHA Group.

Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, WHA Group's chairman of the executive Committee and Group CEO, said that the company continues to move forward to driving revenue and net profit growth. This is driven by the performance of all 4 business hubs: logistics, industrial estate, utilities and power, and digital, both in Thailand and Vietnam. This is in line with the trend of investment and production base relocation by foreign investors, as well as government's policy stimulating the attraction of foreign investment into the country, resulting in a resurgence in the investment sector and supporting the company’s all 4 business hubs.

Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, chairman of the Executive Committee and Group CEO of WHA Corporation PCL

Logistics business has been experiencing continuous growth. In Q1/2024, the company signed built-to-suit lease agreements and the addition of ready-built factories/warehouse projects totaling 29,623 sq.m.

Furthermore, short-term lease contracts with high returns covering 33,455 sq.m. This has led to a total warehouse space under ownership and management of 2,960,056 sq.m.

As a result, in Q1/2024, the company recognized revenue from the rental properties business totaling 297 million baht. 

Furthermore, the company is emphasizing the importance of adopting electric vehicles in the country’s transportation sector. Through investments in the Green Logistics project, which provides comprehensive electric vehicle services, including commercial electric transport services, installation of charging systems, charging stations, and the WHA Green Mobility Platform (W-GMP) that enhances efficiency in managing electric vehicles and batteries for customers. Recently, the company has established Mobilix Co., Ltd as a brand to provide electric vehicle services to meet the needs of logistics service providers.

As of Q1/2024, the company successfully signed lease-purchase contracts with customers up to 176 electric vehicles and anticipates that throughout the year, the number of customers signing contracts could reach up to 1,000 vehicles, in line with the company's set target.

For the WHA Logistics Center TheparakKM. 21, after Phase 1 has reached full occupancy, the company has accelerated the development of Phase 2 to accommodate the-increasing number of customers. Recently, a manufacturer/distributor of pet equipment and animal feed has signed a lease agreement for an additional area of 10,800 sq.m, in addition to the previously leased area of 46,200 sq.m.On top of that, this company plans to lease an additional warehouse space in Phase 2 of approximately 9,000 sq.m.

Recently, the company has unveiled the WHA Mega Logistics Center Bangna-TradKM. 23, Project 3, with a total area over91,000 sq.m. on 102-rai plot of land. This project is aimed to serve industrial sector customers, including e-commerce, manufacturers, and freight service providers. In parallel, the company plans to develop a new project on 300-400 rai of land in a strategic logistics location, aligning with the growing demand for leasing high-quality warehouse/factory spaces.

Additionally, the company has collaborated with Daiwa House Industry Co to establish the "DPL Vietnam Minh Quang" logistics center on a total area of 42,330 sq.m within the Minh Quang Industrial Zone in Hung Yên Province, Vietnam. Most recently, groundbreaking ceremonies have been held, and construction commenced since February of last year.

Regarding the plan for selling properties and/or leasing property rights to the WHART and WHAIR, totaling space approximately213,000 sq.m, with an estimated value of 5.29 billion baht, the company plans to propose this plan at the WHART and WHAIR trust unitholders' meeting for approval during the Q2/2024.

In Q1/2024, the company's industrial estate business had a significant increase in land transfers, more than double from the same period last year. This is attributed to the continuous relocation of investment and production bases to the Southeast Asian region. The total land sales reached 629 rai (575 rai in Thailand / 55 rai in Vietnam), with the signing of memorandum of understandings (MOUs) for an additional 715 rai (669 rai in Thailand/46 rai in Vietnam).

This resulted in the company recognizing total revenue from the industrial development business of 2.13 billion baht.

By the end of Q1/2024, the company had a backlog of land sales awaitingto transfer to customers, totaling 1,087 rai (1,052 rai in Thailand / 34 rai in Vietnam). 

“The factors contributing to the increase in land sales include the signing of land purchase agreements with customers, particularly with a major group of electrical appliance manufacturers from China. This highlights the region's importance as a key production and investment destination for new industries, especially in the S-Curve industries such as smart electronics, electric vehicles, and digital technologies.”

"Currently, the company has a total industrial estate area in both Thailand and Vietnam of 77,600 rai, including areas that are operational and those under development.”

This comprises 12 operational industrial estates in Thailand, together with 7 new development and expansion of industrial estate projects, covering nearly 10,000 rai over the next three years. This will increase the company's industrial estate area to over 52,000 rai by 2027. Regarding the latest industrial estate project "Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 5" covering 3,400 rai, the company expects to commence construction by the end of 2024.

For Vietnam, the company currently operates and is developing industrial zones covering a total of 22,815 rais (3,650 hectares). These include the WHA Industrial Zone 1 - Nge Ahn, Phase 1 of which is almost fully leased, and Phase 2, which has leased over half of its area to leading electronics companies. With the success of both phases, the company is accelerating the development of Phase 3, which is expected to receive approval within 2024. In addition, the company has plans to develop three new industrial projects in Thanh Hoa and Quang Nam provinces as well.

For Utilities business (Water), the overall performance has been consistently positive, leading to the company's recognition of revenue and normalized share of profit from investments in utilities associates in Q1/2024 amounted to 771million baht.

The total volume of water sales and management both domestically and internationally reached 40.3 million cubic meters. The domestic water sales increased to 32.2 million cubic meters, driven by the growth in sales volume of all water products, especially value-added water and raw water, which had increased demand from energy and petrochemical customers. Furthermore, the company has signed a contract to provide Premium Clarified Water services, with an annual production capacity of 3.5 million cubic meters to PTT Global Chemical PCL in the WHA Eastern Industrial Estate (Map Ta Phut), which is expected to commence commercial operations in September.

The volume of water sales and management in Vietnam also increased in Q1/2024, total water sales according to equity stake reached 8.2 million cubic meters, driven by an increase in volume of water sales and management of the Duong River project, which has been continuously growing, as a result of the expansion of service areas and increased demand for water from both existing and new customers.

In Q1/2024, the company recognized its normalized share of profits from investments in joint ventures and associates, excluding gain/loss from exchange rate and revenue from solar business-amounting to 352 million baht.
The increase in normalized share of profits from the power business was due to higher share of profit from the GHECO-One power plant due todecreased maintenance downtime, along with an increased share of profits from the SPPs power plant, which benefited from lower natural gas costs compared to the previous year.

For the solar power business, in Q1/2024, the company signed 16 contracts for an additional solar power projects, consisting of 15 Private PPA projects with combined production capacity of approximately 59 MW and 1 EPC Service project with a productioncapacity of 1 MW.  

By the end of Q1/2024, the accumulated Private PPA contracts reached 242 MW. Besides, the company has a total commercial operation of solar power of 125 MW and a total installed capacity of approximately 792 MW equity.

The company has been selected by the Energy Regulatory Commission to be the developer of 5 solar power projects under the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Phase 1 scheme, with a total installed capacity based on equity stake of 125.4 MW. The company expects to sign power purchase agreements within the Q2/2024.

The company is advancing its organizational development in all dimensions to become a Technology Company in 2024 under the 'Mission To The Sun' mission. The focus is on transforming the businesses into digital, creating new products and added value, while enhancing the company's business potential. A project under this mission that has made significant progressis the Green Logistics project. The company currently developing the WHA Green Mobility Platform (W-GMP) that integrates various services for electric vehicle customers, ranging from Fleet Management, Route Optimization to EV Roaming network station connections.