Executive Summary: ASEAN Corporate Monitor 2018: Stronger but still not better than global

Natixis ASEAN Corporate Monitor 2018 is our third annual effort to offer a bottom-up analysis of the health of the 1,200 largest listed corporates in 6 ASEAN economies. Beyond its evolution over time, the report also compares the financial health of ASEAN corporates with that of their global peers. Such analysis is not only conducted at the country level but also at the sectoral level, based on single-name data.

ASEAN corporate health improved since 2016 thanks to a better macro-economic environment. The region also had a better growth environment relative to global in 2017. That said, relatively higher interest and tax burden backdrop contributed to the continued underperformance of ASEAN corporates relative to global peers.

Worse management also didn’t help as dependency on short-term funding, lower operating income and return on capital caused poorer performance vs global. Similar to last year, our Natixis Corporate Financial Health Indicator reveals that Thailand has the best corporate health. The Philippines, however, has slipped in rankings to be the worst due to worse management and macro-economic environment.

From the sectorial view, real estate, infrastructure and utilities are best and they also are healthier than global peers. Moreover, real estate and infrastructure are bigger in size as sectors than global peers.

Full report available for NATIXIS clients