Energy and Utilities vs Mining: Assets and Margin in Thailand 2026
In short
Energy and utilities averages 392.4 million baht in assets per company as of 7 Jul 2026, ahead of mining and quarrying's 337.6 million. Mining flips the order on profitability, posting a 14.04 percent net margin against energy's 11.86 percent. Mining also earns a higher return on assets, 5.23 percent against 3.97 percent, and turns its balance sheet into revenue faster. Energy and utilities counters with sturdier survival, 60.3 percent of its firms still active against just 30.9 percent for mining. A bigger balance sheet does not buy a better margin.
Which sector does more with its capital?
Energy and utilities carries the heavier balance sheet. Its average company holds 392.4 million baht in assets as of 7 Jul 2026 (DBD, 2026). Mining and quarrying runs leaner, at 337.6 million baht per company. Flip the question to profitability and mining pulls ahead. Mining posts a 14.04 percent net margin against energy's 11.86 percent. Mining earns a return on assets of 5.23 percent, well clear of energy's 3.97 percent. Mining also converts its balance sheet into revenue faster, generating 0.39 baht of revenue for every baht of assets against energy's 0.36. Size and efficiency point in opposite directions across these two resource sectors.
Average assets per company
- Mining and quarrying338
- Energy and utilities392
Figures in million baht per company.
Energy and utilities needs about 55 million baht more in average assets than mining and quarrying to run one company.
Profitability and efficiency, mining vs energy
- Net margin, mining14
- Net margin, energy12
- Return on assets, mining5
- Return on assets, energy4
- Return on equity, mining8
- Return on equity, energy8
- Asset turnover, mining39
- Asset turnover, energy36
Figures in percent.
On every profitability and efficiency measure here, mining and quarrying leads energy and utilities.
Mining and quarrying vs energy and utilities, full comparison
| Metric | Mining and quarrying | Energy and utilities |
|---|---|---|
| Registered companies | 8,231 | 7,833 |
| Companies with filed statements | 3,574, 43.4% | 6,204, 79.2% |
| Average assets per company | 337.6 million baht | 392.4 million baht |
| Average equity per company | 222.7 million baht | 201.9 million baht |
| Assets to equity ratio | 1.52x | 1.94x |
| Net margin | 14.04% | 11.86% |
| Return on assets | 5.23% | 3.97% |
| Return on equity | 7.92% | 7.72% |
| Asset turnover | 0.39x | 0.36x |
| Survival rate, active companies | 30.9% | 60.3% |
| Top company share of sector revenue | 19.0% | 4.6% |
Section B, mining and quarrying, against section D, energy and utilities, as of 7 Jul 2026.
Why this comparison matters
Both sectors sit among the most capital heavy in the Thai economy, and both attract the same kind of long-horizon investor. That investor faces a real tradeoff between them. Mining pays out more per baht invested but survives less often, with just 30.9 percent of registered mining and quarrying companies still active against 60.3 percent for energy and utilities. Mining's revenue also concentrates hard around a single operator. PTT Exploration and Production alone books 19.0 percent of the sector's total revenue. Energy and utilities spreads its revenue further. Its top firm, Gulf SRC, holds just 4.6 percent of sector revenue. A bigger balance sheet did not buy energy and utilities a better margin. It bought a steadier, less concentrated sector instead. Anyone reading a single average margin for either sector without also reading its survival rate and its concentration is reading half the story.
Definitions
- Net margin
- Aggregate net profit for a section divided by aggregate revenue for that section. A margin of ten percent means ten satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
- Return on assets, ROA
- Aggregate net profit divided by aggregate total assets. It measures how much profit a sector generates from the assets it holds.
- Return on equity, ROE
- Aggregate net profit divided by aggregate shareholder equity, the profit generated per baht that owners have invested.
- Asset turnover
- Average revenue per company divided by average total assets per company, a measure of how many baht of revenue each baht of assets produces in a year.
- Survival rate
- The share of registered companies in a section still classified as active, summed from five digit TSIC codes up to the section level.
- Assets to equity ratio
- Average total assets divided by average total equity per company, a simple gauge of how much of the balance sheet is funded by debt rather than owner capital.
- Aggregate ratio
- A ratio computed from section wide totals, such as total profit over total revenue, rather than the average of each company's own individual ratio.
Assumptions
- Averages per company use only companies that filed a financial statement, not every registered company, so the thinly reporting mining sector, at a 43.4 percent filing rate, carries more estimation risk than energy and utilities, at 79.2 percent.
- Asset turnover and the assets to equity ratio are calculated here from the source table's averages, they are not stored directly in the registry aggregates.
- Section D groups electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, called energy and utilities here for readability, and section B groups mining and quarrying as classified under Thailand's TSIC system.
- Company names for the top revenue generator in each section are reported because they are registered legal entities, not natural persons.
Methodology
Figures are drawn from Department of Business Development, DBD, registry aggregates for TSIC section B, mining and quarrying, and section D, electricity and gas supply, called energy and utilities here for readability, as of 7 July 2026. Averages per company divide each section's total assets, equity, revenue and net profit by the count of companies that filed a financial statement in that section, not the full count of registered companies. Net margin, return on assets and return on equity are aggregate ratios of section totals, not the average of each company's own ratio. Asset turnover is calculated here as average revenue divided by average total assets, a standard efficiency measure. Survival rate sums active and inactive company counts by five digit TSIC code up to the section level.
How we verified this
- Asset turnover recomputed as average revenue divided by average total assets: mining 132,862,822.50 divided by 337,641,414.48 equals 0.3936, energy 142,221,722.75 divided by 392,405,447.38 equals 0.3624.
- Assets to equity ratio recomputed as average total assets divided by average total equity: mining 337,641,414.48 divided by 222,662,385.32 equals 1.52, energy 392,405,447.38 divided by 201,852,388.55 equals 1.94.
- Survival rate recomputed from five digit TSIC rows summed to the section level: mining 2,540 active of 8,231 total equals 30.86 percent, energy 4,721 active of 7,833 total equals 60.28 percent.
- Filing rate recomputed as companies with filed statements divided by registered companies: mining 3,574 of 8,231 equals 43.42 percent, energy 6,204 of 7,833 equals 79.20 percent.
- Top company revenue share recomputed against section total revenue: PTT Exploration and Production's 85,469,910,000 baht is 19.04 percent of mining's 448,943,477,234.85 baht total, Gulf SRC's 37,469,188,703 baht is 4.59 percent of energy's 815,641,579,959.91 baht total.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Krungsri Research. (2026). Industry outlook 2026 to 2028: Renewable energy. Bank of Ayudhya. https://www.krungsri.com/en/research/industry/industry-outlook/energy-utilities/renewable-energy/io/renewable-energy-2026-2028
Frequently asked questions
Which sector has bigger balance sheets, energy and utilities or mining and quarrying?
Energy and utilities. Its average company holds 392.4 million baht in assets against 337.6 million for mining and quarrying, as of 7 Jul 2026.
Which sector is more profitable per company?
Mining and quarrying. It posts a 14.04 percent net margin and a 5.23 percent return on assets, both ahead of energy and utilities at 11.86 percent and 3.97 percent.
Why does mining and quarrying post higher margins but lower survival?
Only 30.9 percent of registered mining and quarrying companies remain active, against 60.3 percent for energy and utilities. Mining's margin concentrates around a small number of large operators such as PTT Exploration and Production, while many smaller registrants exit or go dormant.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Energy and Utilities vs Mining: Assets and Margin in Thailand 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/energy-and-utilities-vs-mining-and-quarrying-in-thailand-2026
Data & corrections
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Written by
Chatpong L.Founder, Max Data, Max Solutions Co., Ltd.
Chatpong L. leads Max Data, a company-intelligence platform built on Thailand's official business registry. He writes about the structure of the Thai economy using primary registry data. His work covers company formation, industry concentration, and regional business activity.
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This page reports company-level and aggregate statistics only. It names no individuals and makes no claims about any person. Figures are provided for information and may be revised as source data updates.