Forex gains, better margins boost Golden Agri in Q1

Singapore

INDONESIAN palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources reported a net profit of US$94 million for the first three months of 2016, or around S$0.01 a share, boosted by currency and tax gains and better downstream margins.

But an accounting change on the valuation of its biological assets wiped out some US$5 billion of its book value, causing net asset value to more than halve to US$0.30 at end-March.

An accounting amendment that comes into effect this year will cause oil palm tree trunks to become fixed assets valued at cost and subject to depreciation, rather …