15/08/2012 (The Star) - Sarawak Plantations Bhd's earnings fell 28.3% to RM16.17mil in the second quarter ended June 30, 2012 from RM22.58mil a year ago as it was impacted by lower prices.

It said on Tuesday its revenue fell 9.4% to RM117.99mil from RM130.25mil while earnings per share were 5.78 sen compared with 8.08 sen. It declared a dividend of 5.0 sen per share.

Sarawak Plantations said revenue from oil palm operations declined due to lower realised average selling prices of crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK). However, lower sales volume of CPO, partially offset by higher sales volume of PK.

"The realised average selling prices of CPO and PK decreased by approximately 4% and 26.3% respectively for the current quarter under review in tandem with the global vegetable oil prices trends," it said.

For the first half, its earnings fell 16.3% to RM32.80mil from RM39.19mil while revenue showed a slight decline of 0.4% to RM219.49mil from RM220.39mil.