Wilmar's Q3 net profit jumps 11%

AGRI-GIANT Wilmar International's net profit for the third quarter jumped 10.7 per cent to US$407.4 million from a restated US$368.1 million a year ago led by better showing in tropical oils and oilseeds and grains businesses.

An added boost to the bottom line came from higher share of results of affiliates and a slight improvement in sugar business, said Wilmar in its results announcement.

Excluding losses recorded by the group's discontinued operations in Brazil - the losses mainly stemmed from unrealised foreign exchange losses from US-dollar borrowings - net profit stood at US$434.9 million, up 18.2 per cent from a year ago. The discontinued operations are part of the newly acquired sugar subsidiary in India.

Core net profit rose 35 per cent to US$435 million.

Revenue for the three months to September came in 4.3 per cent higher at US$11.6 billion from US$11.1 billion supported by higher sales volumes across all segments. This was partially offset by weaker commodity prices over the period under review.

Earnings per share stood at 6.4 US cents versus 5.8 US cents. No dividend was declared for the period under review, unchanged from the previous year.

For the nine-month period, the company posted a 21 per cent rise in net profit to US$927 million on the back of a 4 per cent increase in revenue to US$34 billion.

"We expect most of our operations to continue to do well in the coming quarter, due to generally better processing margins," said Wilmar chairman and chief executive Kuok Khoon Hong.

Wilmar International stock closed higher by three Singapore cents or nearly one per cent at S$3.18 on Monday.