Thailand's PTT Chemical (PTTCH) reported a better-than-expected 95% surge in quarterly earnings on Wednesday, driven by higher sales volumes and a better spread in some products.

PTTCH, Southeast Asia's largest olefins maker and the flagship in the petrochemical business of top energy firm PTT, posted a January-March net profit of 6.18 billion baht ($204.9 million), up from 3.17 billion baht a year earlier. The result was better than an average forecast of 6.01 billion baht from eight analysts surveyed by Reuters. In the second quarter analysts expect its earnings to soften slightly owing to weaker olefins spreads.

PTTCH, formed by the merger of National Petrochemical and Thai Olefins in December 2005, has nameplate ethylene capacity of 1.3 million tons and 0.5 million tons of HDPE capacity.