Hot stock: Wilmar hits near 5-month high amid heavy trading

SHARES of Wilmar International surged on Friday (Sep 27) to reach a near five-month high on brisk trading activity.

At 11.12 am, the agribusiness counter rose S$0.28 or 8.9 per cent to S$3.42 after 11.2 million securities changed hands. This is higher than the stock’s average volume of 4.5 million securities.

The last time the counter had reached such levels was in April, when it traded above S$3.40.

By 11.37 am, it had eased slightly to S$3.38, but it was still up S$0.24 or 7.6 per cent. It was still one of the most actively traded counters in terms of volume, with 12.9 million shares transacted.

Shares of Wilmar closed on Friday at S$3.36, up S$0.22 or 7 per cent.

No married deals were recorded, ShareInvestor data indicated.

In August, Wilmar reported that its net profit for the first half ended Jun 30 was US$579.6 million, up 5.2 per cent from US$550.9 million in the year-ago period.

Excluding losses from non-operating items, net profit would have been US$606.3 million, up 5 per cent year on year from US$577.2 million.

The group declared an interim dividend of S$0.06 per share, which it maintained from last year. It was paid out on Aug 29.

Revenue for the first half, however, slid 4.9 per cent to US$30.9 billion, from US$32.5 billion, as commodity prices decreased.

The decline was cushioned by higher sales volume over the period.

Adani Wilmar

Bloomberg earlier reported that Adani Enterprises and Wilmar are expected to start the sale of a minority stake in their consumer joint venture Adani Wilmar as early as October to abide by shareholding regulations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The majority owners of Adani Wilmar are planning to sell a roughly 13 per cent interest in the company – valued at about US$736 million, based on Sep 16’s closing price.

Established in 1999, Adani Wilmar has 23 plants in India and sells kitchen staples for Indians, including edible oil, wheat flour, rice, pulses and sugar.