SET-listed developer Noble Development Plc has revised down its 2024 revenue target by 18% to 11.4 billion baht, from an initial projection of 14 billion baht, following lower-than-expected performance in its low-rise housing projects.
Thippawan Karoonsatitchai, acting chief financial officer, said revenue for the first three quarters of the year tallied 7.4 billion baht, falling short of expectations, largely due to the economic slowdown.
"We revised our revenue target downwards because our two new low-rise housing projects launched in the first half did not receive the response we anticipated," she said.
Those projects were single detached houses: Noble Norse Krungthep Kreetha worth 1.5 billion baht, with unit prices starting from 19 million baht; and Nue Shade Ratchaphruek Chaengwattana, valued at 1.9 billion baht with unit prices starting from 8.8 million baht.
In the first nine months of 2024, Noble reported revenue of 7.4 billion baht, a modest increase of 2% compared to 7.2 billion baht during the same period last year.
However, net profit plummeted 72% to 200 million baht, down from 719 million baht.
At the start of this year, Noble set a revenue target of 14 billion baht for 2024. The company now expects to generate 4 billion baht in the fourth quarter, bringing its annual revenue to 11.4 billion baht, representing growth from 9.79 billion baht last year.
Sira Udol, chief operating officer for residential real estate, said the company's condo sales remain robust, with presales reaching around 12.5 billion baht in the first nine months of the year, compared to only 1.1 billion baht from low-rise houses.
"The key driver of condo sales was foreign demand, totalling 8.8 billion baht in presales which accounted for over 70% of total presales in the first nine months," he said. "Our overseas sales have shown consistent growth since 2020, rising from 265 units to 1,688 units."
The largest buyers in the first nine months were from Myanmar and Taiwan, with sales totalling 1.9 billion baht and 1.5 billion baht, respectively.
These figures surpassed those of former top buyers from China, whose sales fell to 900 million baht, down from a peak of 1.2 billion baht in 2021.
Despite challenges in the domestic market from high interest rates and stricter mortgage rules, the company established a new customer relationship team earlier this year to assist customers in building financial records to qualify for mortgage loans.
As a result, its rejection rate was only 10%, significantly lower than the market average.
"We are bottoming out," Mr Sira said. "2025 will be better than this year as we have a substantial sales backlog of 27 billion baht -- a new high --which will be recognised as revenue over the next three years."