Bumitama Agri's Q4 profit up 26% on higher palm oil prices

AN improvement in palm oil prices towards the end of last year gave a boost to Bumitama Agri's fourth-quarter earnings.

The Indonesian palm oil producer on Tuesday posted a 26.1 per cent increase in net profit to 261.46 billion rupiah (S$26.6 million) for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, from 207.37 billion rupiah a year ago.

Earnings per share stood at 149 rupiah for the quarter, down from 118 rupiah a year ago.

Revenue for Q4 grew 4 per cent to 2.29 trillion rupiah, from 2.2 trillion rupiah for the year-ago period. This was supported by a 6.7 per cent increase in sales revenue from the crude palm oil segment, although the palm kernel business posted a 19 per cent decline.

The average sales price of crude palm oil rose 18.1 per cent on the year to 7,156 rupiah per kilogramme (kg) in the quarter. On the other hand, the average sales price of palm kernel was down by 25.5 per cent to 3,243 rupiah per kg, according to the company's financial statements.

For the full year ended Dec 31, 2019, net profit sank 37.4 per cent to 686.31 billion rupiah, while revenue fell 8.2 per cent to 7.69 trillion rupiah.

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Palm oil prices were weak during the year compared to 2018, before they began to increase late in 2019. The average sales price of crude palm oil in 2019 was 6,696 rupiah per kg, 4.7 per cent lower year on year.

Bumitama Agri directors recommended a final dividend for the fiscal year, although the financial statements did not state the recommended amount or the date payable. The payment of the dividend will be subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming annual general meeting at the end of April 2020.

For FY2018, the company had declared a final cash dividend of S$0.02 per share.

Shares of Bumitama Agri closed flat at 68.5 Singapore cents on Monday.