The result included the profit after tax on the sale of Nuplex Specialties and Masterbatch of $13.8 million and a remediation provision expense of $3.4 million, plus in the same period a year ago there had been significant one-off costs, of $14.6 million.
Revenue was up 2.5% to $685.8 million, for the six months to December, while after-tax profit rose 226%, from $11.4 million a year ago to $37.3 million.
Nuplex shares leapt 6.7% on the announcement, trading to a three-month high of $3.20.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said that overall it was a ''low-quality result'', noting operations in Australia and New Zealand were still a drag on the results and remained ''problematic''.
Volumes in Australia and New Zealand were down 1.5%, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were down 67.5%, to $3 million.
''Europe was positive, and so was Asia and the Americas. Australia was not only challenging but also deteriorated from the second half.
''As expected, the first-half trading conditions reflected a continuation of second-half 2014, but at a slower pace,'' Mr McIntyre said.
The broker said Nuplex's outlook remained ''mixed'' with the commissioning of Asian projects now delayed to end of full-year 2015.
While Australian operations were expected to remain subdued, Asia would grow as a whole, Europe would continue its first-half momentum and growth from the Americas was expected, Mr McIntyre said.
Nuplex used the cash from its sale of its two Australasian units to reduce net debt to $122.6 million, from $231.7 million at June 30, BusinessDesk reported.
Its gearing, which measures net debt to net debt plus equity, dropped to 18.7% from 31.1% during the period.
The company's improved balance sheet is prompting it to undertake a share buy-back of as much as 5% of its issued capital.
The company expects to detail the plans in coming weeks once it has completed consultation with regulators.
