22/11/2017 (The Star Online) - PETALING JAYA: Boustead Plantations Bhd

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registered a 1405% surge in net profit at RM562.42mil for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017, from the previous corresponding quarter.

This was on the back of an exceptional disposal gain on plantation asset amounting to RM554.9mil during the period under review.

For the nine-month period, the company’s cumulative net profit was up 254% to RM628.8mil as compared to the last corresponding period.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing, Boustead Plantations said the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production for the nine-month period rose 5% to 696,668 tonnes, mainly attributed to improvement in yields post El Nino in the first half of 2017.

Oil extraction rate averaged at 20.9% as compared to 21.5% during the same period last year, while the average kernel extraction rate of 4.3% was marginally behind the rate for last year.

Meanwhile, crude palm oil (CPO) achieved an average selling price of RM2,871 per tonne for the nine-month period this year, representing a 16% increase from RM2,475 from the corresponding period last year whilst palm kernel achieved an average price of RM2,478 per tonne, up 8%.

Boustead Plantations added that while Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah regions have shown some improvements in FFB yields, erratic weather conditions and labour shortage, coupled with difficult ground conditions in Sarawak may dampen crop production.

“To date, CPO prices have outperformed expectations as production recovery was not as strong as expected after 2015/2016 El Nino.

“September CPO stockpiles rose to their highest since February 2016 to 2.02 million tonnes on the back of weaker than expected export growth, as more of Malaysia’s export share was lost to Indonesia, which catered to price-sensitive customers such as India and China.

“However, this did not give rise to extreme selling pressure,” said Boustead Plantations.

Going forward, it said the current price levels are expected to continue, if not move upward, should CPO production fail to meet recovery expectations.

In addition, good global import demand and comfortable stock levels are also expected to lend continuing support to prices.

For the quarter under review, the board of directors have declared a third interim single tier dividend of 3 sen per share, as well as a special single tier dividend of 7 sen per share, in respect of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017.

The dividends will be paid on December 19 to shareholders registered in the Register of Members at the close of business on December 8.

Boustead Plantations closed 7.5% higher at RM1.73, traded on a volume of 5.56 million shares.