01/04/2013  (Jakarta Globe) - BW Plantation, a crude palm oil producer, posted lower-than-expected earning results despite a boost in sales volume, as the company saw much lower selling prices.

In a financial statement released on Thursday, the company reported Rp 262 billion ($27 million) in net income last year, an 18 percent decline from a year earlier. Its revenue rose 6 percent to Rp 944 billion.

Tito Tambayong, an analyst with Trimegah Securities, said in his assessment on BW Plantation’s earnings said that the full-year net income came in 19 percent lower than Trimegah’s estimate and 14 percent lower than the forecast made by a group of analysts observed by Bloomberg.

The main reason for the income decline, Tito said, was a lower-than-average selling price of BW Plantation’s CPO, at Rp 7,179 per kilogram last year, 4 percent lower than the average selling price a year earlier. The price of palm kernels fell 17 percent over the year to Rp 3,201 per kilogram.

Meanwhile, CPO sales volume was boosted to balance the declining price. CPO sales volume at the company rose 12 percent to 119,624 tons, while sales volume for palm kernels fell 7 percent to 19,752 tons.

“In 2013 we expect BWPT’s production to reach 155,000 tons of CPO and 26,000 tons of palm kernel on the back of an additional 13,800 hectares of planted trees entering maturity stage,” Tito said.

With BW Plantation’s significantly lower-than-expected set of results, Tito tipped the company’s share price to drop in the short term. Trimegah has set BW Plantation’s target share price at Rp 1,120.

The stock closed down 0.8 percent to Rp 1,330 in Jakarta trading on Thursday, while the main index rose 0.3 percent for the day. The Indonesia Stock Exchange was closed on Friday for the Good Friday celebration.