Halcyon Agri posts 88.2% rise in Q1 Ebitda

RUBBER producer Halcyon Agri’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased 88.2 per cent to US$8.5 million in the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2024, from US$1 million in the year-ago period.

The higher earnings were due to gross profit margin improvement and the positive impact of cost-saving initiatives activated since FY2023, said the company in a voluntary business update on Friday (May 17).

Revenue for Q1 rose 20.5 per cent to US$592.9 million from US$492.2 million in the year-ago period, on the back of higher volume and prices. Gross profit for the quarter also grew in tandem with revenue, hitting US$32.4 million, compared with US$30.5 million in Q1 2023.

Over the same period, the group’s sales volume also saw an increase of 18 per cent to 365,375 tonnes, from 309,737 tonnes a year ago.

In the regulatory filing, the mainboard-listed company said the macroeconomic environment continued to be volatile in Q1 due to inflationary pressure cast by the high interest rate environment, with escalating geopolitical tensions having further added to uncertainties.

Commenting on the latest results, Halcyon Agri’s chief executive officer Sun Weiliang said: “While we expect the macroeconomic conditions to remain at the current level in near future, the natural rubber demand has been resilient, and we are ready to capture business opportunities that arise.”

The mandatory conditional cash offer for Halcyon Agri at S$0.413 per share by Hainan Rubber Group closed on Apr 24, 2023, with free float dropping to less than 10 per cent.

Halcyon Agri’s shares have been suspended from trading since Apr 25, 2023.