STUDY INDENTIFIES STOCKS GIVING MOST VALUE TO INVESTORS

       PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, Advanced Info Service, Siam Cement, Siam City Cement, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, BEC World and Bumrungrad Hospital are the eight stocks that have returned the most value to investors over the past six years.
       The findings came from a study by Nida Business School based on market value added (MVA) and economic value added (EVA), Aekkachai Nittayagasetwat, dean of Business Administration, told a seminar yesterday on Crisis Watch series 9 "Investment@ Risk Rating Map".
       MVA and EVA are methods used to evaluate how much a company's executives would be able to add value to their company's stock.
       One of the conclusions is that despite showing net profit, a company might not have the potential to grow consistently in the future. Most stock investment analysis is based on the book value of a company, which generally reflects the company's operating results but misses operating risks both short and long term.
       On the other hand, an MVA and EVA analysis includes opportunity costs, investment risk of new projects and accumulated gains or losses. The real value of a stock is reflected. For example, a company could invest in a certain project that has a chance of not generating revenues in the future.
       The MVA study alone covered listed firms over the past seven years starting in 2002. Seven stocks were listed in the top 10 all the time. They were PTT, PTTEP, AIS, SCG, Shin Corp, Land and Houses, and Ratch.
       MVA reflects the positive expectation that investors have for certain stocks.
       The EVA found four stocks listed in the top 10 each year - PTT, AIS, PTTEP and SCCC. Stocks on the top10 list for six years were SCG, Ratch and BEC. This reflects regular profitmaking in terms of the economics of these firms.
       Combining MVA and EVA, the institute came up with the eight stocks with the highest valueadded to investors who are looking for longterm investment opportunities in stocks with strong fundamentals and regular performance in both stock price and earnings.
       Sukit Udomsirikul, deputy managing director of Siam City Research Institute, said the global economy already bottomed out in the first half of the year and would move toward a more stable stage in the second half.
       However, the recovery rate depends largely on the government's stimulus policies.
       "Although global economic recovery is on the way, there's still some risk. The growth in GDP was mainly due to government investment, while the private sector has hardly invested. With government spending, economic growth could become a W-shaped recovery," he said.