ASP splashes $1m for VC
Asia Plus Group Holdings Plc (ASP), the parent company of Asia Plus Securities, plans to earmark US$1-2 million (34.1-68.1 million baht) to a venture capital fund in Israel to invest in technology startups with the goal of harvesting handsome returns in the long run.
Venture capital funds are high-risk and the investment period could be 7-10 years before an exit.
“The company’s total investment portfolio is worth over 3 billion baht. Most of the investments are allocated in high-liquidity assets such as equity, bonds and fixed income,” said chief executive Kongkiat Opaswongkarn. The company has investment in private equity, venture capital, and startups of around 300 million baht at present.
ASP’s investment in startups include Lalamove and a Thai startup that does brand monitoring for Thai and foreign corporations in many languages.
During the first quarter, ASP’s revenue rose to 635 million baht year-on-year from 524 million, and its net profit surged by 43% to 192 million.
Mr Kongkiat said the company delivered higher net profit and a net profit margin gain even as its securities brokerage market share declined because revenue from investment, asset management and investment banking (IB) businesses grew at a faster pace than the decline of the brokerage.
For the period, the revenue contribution from brokerage fell to only 51% from 60% in the first quarter of 2015. The contribution from the investment business jumped to 16.1% from 12.2%, while IB and capital markets rose to 18.4% from 12%, and asset management dipped to 14.7% from 14.9% even as total revenue increased.
“Brokerage revenue and market share declined as we don’t want to compete in a price war and we aim to balance our four core businesses,” he said.
At the end of March, the group had 61 IB deals, comprising 28 initial public offerings (IPOs) and 33 advisory deals. Mr Kongkiat said 2-3 IPO deals are expected to take place this year.
ASP shares closed unchanged yesterday on the SET at 3.60 baht in trade worth 7.8 million baht.