This study investigates the operating performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand, in terms of efficiency and profitability, after issuing initial public offering (IPO) in comparison to their pre-IPO performance. A cross-sectional analysis is also applied to examine the impact of ownership retention and underpricing on operating performance using different measurements. Studies in most developed countries identify a deterioration in post-IPO operating performance; however, few studies have been conducted in emerging markets, especially on SMEs performance after IPO issuance for fund raising. The results of 82 Thai SMEs listed in the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) during 2001-2014 show the decline of the operating performance for post-IPO issuance compared to a year prior IPO whic99h are consistent with the “window dressing” and “market timing” concepts. SMEs improve their revenue significantly after going public even though their growth is lower than the assets’ growth rate. The original ownership retention has no significant impact on the operating performances in different measurements which are inconsistent with previous studies. The original owners of SMEs maintain relatively high managerial ownership after going public thus there is less agency cost problem. Underpricing has a negative impact on the changes in sales for post-IPO relative to pre-IPO, reflecting that the expectations of investors toward companies’ revenues are different from reality. The findings benefit company owners and management in the area of performance sustainability, and regulators in terms of auditing companies’ performances prior to going public.

Abstract-This study examines the short term performance of initial public offering (IPO) in capital market of Thailand from 2003-2013. The daily price data is used in this study to identify the short term returns of IPO of the first trading day until the day that abnormal return cannot be earned. The results confirm the abnormal returns of the first trading day of IPO and also identify that their outperformance returns remain until day 246 after the market. IPO of four industries which are financial, service, resources, and technology outperform the market, while the other four industries which are agro and food, consumer products, industrials, and property and construction do not provide significant abnormal returns.Index Terms-Abnormal returns, first trading day return, IPO, stock exchange of Thailand (SET).

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted most businesses worldwide. Sustainability management by involving Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria is increasingly a focus of business stakeholders. This study explores the return and risk performance of 98 companies listed in the Thailand Sustainability Investment (THSI) strategy that adopted ESG measures during the COVID-19 outbreak. The regression analysis is also applied to examine the impacts of ESG pillar scores on stock returns from 2015–2021. The empirical results support the positive impact of ESG adoption to stock performance, even during the risks brought by the pandemic. Environmental and governance pillars have a statistically positive affect on stock returns, while the social pillar scores have no impact on return generating. The findings confirm the importance of sustainable development as the center of business’s strategies to cope with emerging risk and to generate better stock performance.