FGV back in black with RM2.47m Q1 net
Revenue rises 15.1pc to RM4.32b on higher income from plantation, logistics and sugar divisions
FELDA Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) has returned to the black with a net profit of RM2.47 million in the first quarter ended March 31.
This reversed the RM81.08 million net loss posted a year earlier.
FGV said the net profit was due to higher average crude palm oil (CPO) prices and that of related products during the quarter.
Group president and chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Arshad said he expected the CPO prices to average around RM2,550 to RM2,750 per tonne in the second half of the year.
FGV’s revenue rose 15.1 per cent to RM4.32 billion from RM3.76 billion in the same period last year on higher income from the plantation, logistics, sugar and other divisions.
Zakaria said its upstream operations had seen a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in CPO production, resulting in lower production cost by five per cent to RM1,739 per tonne.
“Also noteworthy is that we lowered our administrative expenses by RM39.2 million, a 15 per cent reduction compared with the same period last year,” he said in a statement.
Its plantation division saw higher revenue of RM3.27 billion compared with
RM2.94 billion a year ago and a lower loss of RM900,000 compared with RM82.2 million previously.
Within the segment, the palm upstream cluster posted a significant turnaround with a
RM65.8 million profit for the quarter, compared with a RM96.8 million loss a year ago.
FGV said the turnaround of the palm upstream cluster was due to higher average CPO price realised of RM3,061 per tonne, compared with RM2,303 per tonne last year.
Its CPO production rose to 566,000 tonnes during the quarter from 485, 000 tonne last year in tandem with higher fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production.
However, oil extraction rate was lower at 19.82 per cent compared with 20.56 per cent in the previous year due to heavy rainfall.
FGV expects average the CPO prices to decline slightly due to the increase in FFB output from both Malaysia and Indonesia in the coming months.
Nonetheless, Zakaria said Malaysia’s overall production this year was estimated to be lower than in 2015, in view of acute labour shortages that could moderate the bearish CPO price outlook.
“FGV remains focused on further augmenting its core business and operational efficiency in line with our SP20 target,” he added.