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 (4Q09) compared with a net loss of RM474.06 million a year ago.

Titan Chemicals said today 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% jump in sales price for the final quarter of 2009 resulting in a 26% gain in revenue to RM1.58 billion from RM1.25 billion a year ago. Earnings per share (EPS) were 4.40 sen compared with loss per share of 27.2 sen.

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

The group's borrowings shrank to RM948.4 million as at end-2009 from RM1.81 billion as at Dec 31, 2008 while gearing ratio has reduced significantly to 21% from 38%.