17/11/2012 (RTT News) - New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPO.L), a Papua New Guinea-based producer of palm oil, Friday reported lower sales for the first nine months of the year, owing to weather impacts compounded by flagging crude palm oil or CPO and palm kernel oil or PKO prices.

For nine months, the group posted net sales of $528 million compared with $593.7 million for the year-before period.

The company produced 388,187 tonnes of CPO, down 7.9 percent from 421,715 tonnes for the same period last year, on the back of lower fresh fruit bunches or FFB production and lower extraction rates. Production of PKO too dipped 10.6 percent to 27,179 tonnes from 30,410 tonnes for the prior-year period.

Average CPO price per tonne for the period stood at $1,098, down from $1,115 year-over-year. Average PKO price per tonne totaled $1,393 versus $1,830 a year ago.

The palm oil producer said local currency has appreciated nearly 16 percent year-on-year against the US dollar, leading to a rise in labor and overhead costs, directly affecting the profitability for the period. Falling prices due to overhang of palm oil stock and weather issues further exacerbated the problem.

Looking forward, the company said freight and fertilizer costs are expected to go down in 2013 and that it has reorganized its management structure to better cope with the peak cropping period in the first half of 2013.

Currently, the stock is trading down 2.8% at 486.00 pence on the LSE.