Wilmar swings into the black in Q2 with US$60.2m profit

WILMAR International swung into the black for the second quarter with a net profit of US$60.2 million from a net loss of US$220.1 million a year ago, led by higher non-operating gains arising from the group's investment securities.

The palm-oil giant posted a core net profit of US$37.3 million for the three months to June from a US$220.3 million loss on the back of a recovery in oilseeds & grains which incurred one-off losses in the previous year's corresponding period.

Revenue rose 13.2 per cent to US$10.6 billion from US$9.4 billion due to higher sales volume from the oilseeds & grains and sugar businesses as well as stronger commodity prices.

Earnings per share for the period under review came in at 1 US cent versus a loss of 3.5 US cents a year ago.

The board has proposed an interim tax exempt (one-tier) dividend for H1 2017 of S$0.03 per share, a 20 per cent increase from the H1 2016 dividend. The proposed dividend for H1 2017 will be payable on Aug 30, 2017

For the first-half period, Wilmar's net profit jumped to US$422 million from US$19 million on the back of a 15 per cent increase in revenue to US$21.2 billion.

Wilmar shares closed unchanged at S$3.42 on Thursday.