Bumitama Agri's Q3 net profit up nearly 70 per cent

BUMITAMA Agri reported a 69.1 per cent surge year on year in the bottom line for Q3 2014 to 285.4 billion Indonesian rupiah (S$30.2 million), thanks to the higher selling price and sales volumes of crude palm oil and palm kernel.

Revenue rose 50.8 per cent to 1.36 trillion rupiah, also due to the increase in sales price and sales volume of crude palm oil and palm kernel. Earnings per share for the quarter under review worked out to 162 rupiah, up from 96 rupiah previously.

Despite a 32.7 per cent rise in costs of sales to 756.14 billion rupiah, gross profit was up 81.5 per cent to 610.01 billion rupiah in line with the higher revenue. Pre-tax profit worked out to 455.49 billion rupiah, up 83.9 per cent.

"The group remains positive on the longer term outlook, given the strong fundamentals of palm oil, which is supported by growing demand for edible oils in emerging market(s)," Bumitama said.