The securities watchdog said Abico Holding subsidiary Abico Land must provide details regarding a gap between the price of a land sale and liabilities from the company's compromise in a court-case settlement.

Recently, Abico Land's customers, who paid Bt64 million to the company for the land, filed a lawsuit requesting that the company transfer land rights and pay damages. Abico Land was unable to transfer the land rights, because it had pledged the land as collateral.

The SEC has asked Abico Holding to appoint a special auditor to determine whether the company also has full control over two other companies. If so, it would have to show their financial results in its 2005 financial statement and 2006 second-quarter earnings.

The revised financial statement must be published by January 3.

TPIPL upgrade

Tris Ratings has upgraded TPI Polene (TPIPL) from "BBB-" to "BBB" with a "stable" outlook, reflecting the company's strengthened capital structure after a large capital increase in August.

Most of the proceeds were used to repay nearly half of TPIPL's debt under a debt-restructuring agreement. Regarding its outlook, the rating agency confirmed TPIPL's strong position as the third-largest cement producer and leading low-density polyethylene (LDPE) maker, citing positive prospects for demand for both in the medium term.

However, Tris said the rating might be reviewed if there were any circumstances negatively affecting the company's business operations. But if operating performance was significantly better than expected, pending court cases were resolved and its debt level was reduced further, then the rating might receive another upgrade.