Thai Petrochemical Industry PCL (TPI) expects to refinance its entire debt of US$900 million within the next three months. TPI would seek a bank loan of up to 5 or 7 years and might have to issue bonds to refinance the loan later. Last month, TPI received court approval to leave bankruptcy after 8 years of lawsuits and boardroom battles, ending a government-mediated US$2.7 billion debt restructuring. The restructuring cut TPI's debt to $900 million from $2.7 billion. Creditors who took equity in exchange for forgiving debt have sold those shares to new investors which own a combined 61.5 %.
TPI, which owes US$900 million debt to more than 70 creditors, plans to spend US$1.3-1.4 billion on improving operations. US$850-900 million would be invested in upgrading refining operations to boost production to 250,000 bpd from 175,000 now. US$200 million will be invested in power plants and about US$40 million in improving port operations.
TPI's current performance is very strong, with a reported net profit of 2.5 billion baht ($65.4 million) in Q1-2006 and 61 billion baht profit in 2005.
17-May-06 
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