“Unfortunately, since early this year, we have the issue of China [economic uncertainties]. Nevertheless, we think the current situation is somewhat acceptable. Towards year-end, things are neither expected to become much better nor much worse,” he said.

Now TPBI is expected to launch its IPO in mid-March and to begin listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by the end of next month, subject to final approvals by the authorities, he said.

TPBI booked average annual revenue growth of 13 per cent from 2010 to 2014. During the first nine months of last year, the company recorded net profit of Bt274 million, compared with Bt249 million that it booked for the whole of 2014. It booked average gross profit margin of 25.5 per cent and net profit margin of 39.5 per cent during the 2010-14 period.

Tanachai said the IPO would be benchmarked against listed flexible-packaging companies, which currently have price-|to-earnings ratios from 9 to 17-18 times, lower than the average P/E of all stocks traded on the SET, which is currently over 22 times.

Kamol Borrisuttanakul, chief financial officer of TPBI, said the IPO proceeds would be used to finance capital expenditures expected to total about Bt200 million to Bt300 million this year, and the rest would be reserved for its plan to acquire other flexible-packaging or plastic-film companies.

The company has no plan to expand the production capacity of its plastic-bag business, other than to invest in its new subsidiary Thai German Recycle Technology, a producer of plastic resin from “post-consumer” plastic waste, which will help its conventional plastic business reduce its raw-material costs.

Vest carrier bags and T-shirt bags contributed 46.54 per cent of TPBI’s total sales revenue in the first nine months of 2015, followed by 21.57 per cent from garbage bags, 11.53 per cent from multi-layer blown film, 11.35 per cent from flexible packaging, and 9 per cent from other products such as plastic-coated paper cups.

Kamol said TPBI was the largest manufacturer of plastic bags in Thailand and one of the largest in the world, while it was currently a medium-sized manufacturer here for flexible packaging products. The company wants to grow its flexible-packaging, film and other high-value-added businesses to constitute half of its total revenue over the long term.

The group currently pursues its flexible-packaging business through its 60-per-cent-owned subsidiary TAK Packaging, in which two Japanese firms, Kanaoka and APS Group, hold the remaining stakes.

The Borrisuttanakul family currently has a 98.55-per-cent share of TPBI and Japan’s Marubeni group 1.45 per cent. After the IPO, the company will be owned 73.91 per cent by the family, 23.91 per cent by the public, and 1.09 per cent each by Marubeni and TPBI’s directors and staff.

Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn, chief executive of Tisco, said TPBI was interesting for investors because the company is internationally competitive, while it is poised to benefit from an expected increase of consumption in developed markets.

Furthermore, TPBI is well positioned to gain from the development of the bioplastic industry, which the government is set to promote as one of the industries to support future growth of the Thai economy.

“And from our experience working with TPBI, I can assure that the company has a good standard of corporate governance,” Paiboon added.