01/12/2012 (Fox Business) - Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd. (5222.KU), a Malaysian state-backed plantation company, said Friday net profit fell 40% during the third quarter mainly because of accounting charges and in spite of a jump in sales.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 was 245.6 million ringgit ($80.8 million) compared with MYR410.3 million during the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Malaysian stock exchange. Revenue doubled to MYR3.77 billion from MYR1.88 billion.

Felda Global said palm oil prices face a challenging year because of a weak economic outlook, rising stockpiles and unpredictable weather.

"We expect palm-oil demand will increase as China, India and most Asian countries are entering the festive season in the next few months," it said, noting that the large discount between soybean and crude palm oil will likely narrow as the current gap isn't "fundamentally sustainable."