05/04/2012 (Daily Express) - The Sawit Kinabalu Group on Tuesday paid a dividend of RM51.5 million to the State Government after posting a pre-tax profit of RM300 million last year.

The event also saw the joint venture companies between Sawit Kinabalu Group and the State Government (for the benefit of hardcore household heads or KIRTs) in Tongod and Kalabakan paying dividends of RM1.8m and RM2.4m respectively.

Witnessing the dividend handing-over ceremony, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said it is important that government agencies have an efficient, trustworthy and transparent management.

"With it, the agencies will surely gain larger profit and thus be able to pay dividends to the State Government," he said.

The dividends, he said, would then be used for infrastructure development for the people either in urban or rural areas.

Because of this, he said these agencies are very important to the government.

Musa, who is also Finance Minister, said he always advised the agencies to continue doubling their efforts so as to ensure an efficient management and inevitably gain larger profits.

Sawit Kinabalu, he said, has proven this, with their increasing profits from year to year.

"All this because they have a good and strong teamwork," he said.

The dividends that are given to the government, he said, would also increase every year.

On this, he said, the government will continue to support the State's oil palm industry as one of the key economic sectors.

Sawit Kinabalu Group Managing Director, Othman Walat, said the effort of the management has borne fruits in terms of better yield coupled with the good price of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) last year, thus helping the Group make for the first time in history a pre-tax profit of around RM300 million.

He expressed confidence that the yield for this year would be even better than last year.

"With the average CPO price predicted to be around RM3,000 per metric tonne this year, the Group is expected to make a good profit this year despite the higher cost," he said.

He said the State Government's initiatives to eradicate poverty by undertaking oil palm plantation projects in Tongod and Kalabakan by way of joint venture with Sawit Kinabalu Group is proven to be sustainable as these companies not only pay dividends but also provide employment, hence, making them more independent.

"Payment of dividends today is a manifestation of the success of joint venture projects with the continuous support from the State Government and Sawit Kinabalu's management skills," he said.

To this, he said the strength of the company lies with people within the company.