KUALA LUMPUR: Titan Chemicals Corp Bhd staged a turnaround in its financial performance with net profit of RM76.28 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2009 compared with net loss of RM474.06 million a year ago.

It said on Tuesday, Feb 23 that it benefited from lower operating expenses, which declined to RM1.45 billion from RM1.71 billion a year ago, while there was also higher operating income from other sources and lower finance costs.

"The 2008 loss was due to an unprecedented industry-wide polymer-naphtha margin squeeze arising from the global financial crisis and collapse of oil price," it said.

Titan Chemicals said there was a 35% increase in sales price for the final quarter of 2009 resulting in a 26% increase in revenue from RM1.25 billion to RM1.58 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 26% to RM1.58 billion from RM1.25 billion while earnings per share were 4.40 sen compared with loss per share of 27.2 sen.

For the financial year 2009, the group’s sales volume had increased by 2% while fixed operating and finance expenses were reduced by 4% and 42% respectively.

The group’s borrowing have reduced from RM1.81 billion as at Dec 31, 2008 to RM948.4 million as at end-2009. Gearing ratio has reduced significantly from 38% to 21%.

For FY09, it posted net profit of RM523.91 million compared with net loss of RM260.11 million.