The quarterly earnings improvement came largely from lower interest expenses - a fall of 54 per cent quarter on quarter and 69 per cent year on year to Bt115 million - following the company's recent capital increase and repayment of debt.

Also, the strong appreciation of the baht in the fourth quarter resulted in a foreign-exchange gain of Bt342 million.

However, stripping out this foreign-exchange and extra gains, TPI Polene would have posted a disappointing normalised profit of Bt246 million, down 30 per cent quarter on quarter.

The weak normalised profit resulted from a slow-down in construction activity and cement demand due to flooding and weaker economic growth, as well as to a narrowing low-density-polyethylene (LDPE) spread in its petrochemical business.

The broker this year expects to see TPI Polene's normalised profit surge 98 per cent to Bt2 billion, propelled by a drop in interest expenses from Bt1.17 billion last year to Bt754 million, due to a lower debt burden.

TPI Polene's bottom line should also be bolstered by higher cement prices, lower energy costs and better margins from LDPE and ready-mixed-concrete operations.

Moreover, the brokerage expects TPI Polene to book a one-off gain of Bt2.36 billion this year if the Supreme Court upholds a lower-court ruling against a group of creditors.