Bumitama Agri posts 51.9% rise in H2 net profit on higher palm oil prices

INDONESIAN palm oil producer Bumitama Agri on Monday posted a 51.9 per cent rise in net profit for H2 of fiscal 2020, on the back of higher palm oil prices.

Net profit for the six months ended Dec 31, 2020, stood at 685.14 billion rupiah (S$64.4 million), compared with a net profit of 451.07 billion posted the same period a year ago.

The results translate to earnings per share (EPS) of 392 rupiah, against EPS of 258 rupiah a year ago.

Revenue for the second half was up 20.4 per cent to 5.1 trillion rupiah from 4.24 trillion rupiah a year ago, as the average selling prices of crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel rose by 22.6 per cent and 43.4 per cent respectively.

CPO revenue was up 18.6 per cent to 4.58 trillion rupiah, while palm kernel revenue rose by 39.3 per cent to 515.11 billion rupiah. Sales volume, however, was down 3.3 per cent and 2.9 per cent for CPO and palm kernel respectively.

For the full year ended Dec 31, 2020, net profit rose 64.1 per cent to 1.13 trillion rupiah, translating to EPS of 645 rupiah. Revenue, meanwhile, was up 18.3 per cent to 9.1 trillion rupiah.

The board has proposed for Bumitama Agri to pay a final dividend for the full year ended Dec 31, 2020, subject to shareholder approval at an annual general meeting to be convened in April 2021.

For the same period a year ago, the company declared a final dividend of 0.5 Singapore cent per share.

Shares of mainboard-listed Bumitama Agri closed at 54 Singapore cents on Friday, down 0.5 cent or 0.9 per cent.