Malaysia's FGV posts Q1 loss, warns pandemic challenges to persist

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's palm oil giant FGV Holdings reported a first quarter net loss on Friday, warning of continuing challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic though it forecast that crude palm oil prices would remain high.

FGV, the world's largest crude palm oil producer, said it logged a loss of RM35.4 million (S$11.3 million) during the January-March period, compared with a RM142.3 million loss a year earlier.

Revenue rose 21.9 per cent to RM3.39 billion.

The better performance was due to improvements in all business sectors and was boosted by higher crude palm oil prices, the firm said in a bourse filing.

"The group expects crude palm oil prices to remain high but the plantation sector's operating environment will remain challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the tight labour situation," it said.

REUTERS