Thailand to Probe Irregular Surge of Newly Listed Stocks

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has decided to scrutinize the irregularities in the stock trading as the multiple new shares listed on the exchange surged significantly on their first trading day.

As reported by the Bangkok Post on Friday, trading specifically with high turnover volume will attract the attention of the investigators.

The Thai exchanges, the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI), listed the shares of three new companies recently. 

The share price of Sri Trang Gloves Thailand Plc (STGT), one of the companies listed on the SET, spiked 78 percent on the first trading day, while the value of Silicon Craft Technology Plc (SICT) and I&I Group Plc (IIG), two companies listed on MAI jumped by 200 percent.

Notably, STGT is the world’s third-largest rubber gloves manufacturer, while both SICT and IIG are information technology companies.

It is possible that the demand for these company stocks was due to no impact on their operations by the COVID-19 pandemic.

IPOs are outperforming despite economic slowdown

SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai told the local publication that the abnormal contribution of the newly-listed companies to the market capitalization also raised an alarm, forcing them to initiate a probe.

Normally, SET lists 30-40 new companies every year, all of which together contribute a total market cap of 250-300 billion baht, however, in 2020, only 5 new companies made their public debut on the Thai exchange with a combined market cap of 330 billion baht.

Despite the booming growth in the fresh listed companies, many companies halted their debut listing due to the ongoing economic downturn.

Peetathawatchai also detailed that the probe will not limit to the IPO market, but all cases with some irregular movement in the share price.