PALM oil producer First Resources’ net profit rose 53.4 per cent to US$197.2 million for the second half year ended Dec 31, 2022, up from US$128.6 million in the same period in 2021, the group said on Wednesday (Mar 1).

Net profit for the full year more than doubled, reaching US$325.2 million in FY2022, from US$161.1 million in FY2021.

Revenue was also 11.4 per cent higher, at US$690.2 million in H2 2022, from US$619.4 million previously. This brought its full-year revenue to US$1.2 billion, which was 18.7 per cent higher than the US$1 billion reported in FY2021.

The higher revenue came from higher average selling prices for palm oil, the tightening of global vegetable oil supplies from the Russia-Ukraine war and Indonesia’s temporary export ban, said First Resources.

Earnings per share for the second half of the financial year stood at US$0.1254, higher than the US$0.0815 posted in H2 2021.

The group declared a final dividend of S$0.12 a share, more than twice the S$0.051 declared in the same period in 2021. Coupled with the S$0.025 interim dividend declared earlier, the full-year dividend added up to S$0.145 a share – which represents half the group’s underlying net profit.

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The dividends will be paid out on May 15, following the May 10 record date.

Ciliandra Fangiono, chief executive of First Resources, noted that while palm oil prices had reached new highs in the first half of 2022, the price of crude palm oil has moderated since Indonesia lifted its export ban in the middle of last year.

“While remaining cautiously optimistic that our performance for FY2023 will remain strong vis-a-vis historical levels, the group expects its average selling prices and profitability to moderate in the near-term due to the high base effect from the record high palm oil prices in 2022,” Fangiono said.

The palm oil maker will continue to monitor developments in the regulatory and macro space, paying close attention to the geopolitical situation in the Black Sea and the reopening of China – which it thinks will exert an influence on the direction of palm oil prices.

Shares of First Resources slipped 3.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$1.54 on Tuesday.