Wilmar H1 net profit jumps to US$1.2b; proposes S$0.06 per share dividend
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Raphael Lim
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WILMAR International reported on Thursday (Aug 4) a 55.1 per cent jump in net profit for its first half ended June 2022, on the back of improved performance across all key business segments and higher contributions from associates and joint ventures.
Net profit for the 6 month period rose to US$1.2 billion from US$750.9 million in the year-ago period, the company said in a bourse filing. On a per share basis, earnings increased to US$0.185 in H1 2022 from US$0.119 previously.
The board has proposed an interim dividend of S$0.06 per share for H1 2022, up from S$0.05 per share in the year-ago period. The company noted that this is the highest interim dividend since listing, and the proposed dividend will be payable on Aug 24.
Revenue for the first half grew 22.3 per cent on year to US$36.1 billion from US$29.5 billion a year ago, in line with higher commodity prices, the company said. This was also supported by improvement in sales volume of food products and feed and industrial products.
Net asset value per share slipped to US$3.16 as at June 30, 2022, down from US$3.17 in end December 2021.
Wilmar’s chief executive, Kuok Khoon Hong, said: “We are fortunate to be in the agri-processing business as the demand for food products is less impacted by slowing economies as compared to other industries.”
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He added that the recent corrections in commodity prices will “hopefully restore some of the demand destroyed by high prices and improve margins in the downstream business”.
While palm oil prices have fallen from their peak in the second quarter of this year, Kuok observed they remained higher than the pre-Covid-19 period, which would mitigate the effects on oil palm plantation performance.
“Barring unforeseen circumstances, we are optimistic that performance for the rest of the year will be satisfactory,” he said.
Shares of Wilmar rose 0.5 per cent on Thursday to close at S$4.13 before the results.
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