TPI Polene sees higher 2010 net profit, Thailand

TPI Polene sees higher 2010 net profit, Thailand
01 July 2010


TPI Polene PCL, Thailand’s third-largest cement firm, said on Thursday it expected 2010 net profit to be higher than the THB4.76bn (US$147m) it made last year.
 
Chief Executive Prachai Leophairatana attributed the profit outlook to higher cement demand on the back of government infrastructure projects.
 
"This year’s profit should beat last year’s slightly," Prachai said, adding that an investment in a power plant would help bring saving costs of THB600m a year.
 
The company also expected second-quarter earnings to be higher than THB677m earned in the first quarter as revenue in the first half grew five per cent from a year earlier thanks to a rise in cement sales volume, Prachai added.
 
TPI Polene, 55 per cent owned by the Leophairatana family, entered a debt rehabilitation programme in 2000.
 
Prachai said it was restructuring THB3bn in debt with Bangkok Bank and Deutsche Bank, extending the period of repayment by four to five years.
 
It planned to raise cement prices by another 200-300 baht per tonne this year. It raised cement prices by 150 baht per tonne earlier this year, he added.
Published under Cement News