SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Wilmar International Ltd, the world’s largest palm oil processor, said its fourth-quarter net profit rose 70%, particularly its tropical oils and sugar segments.
Wilmar, one of the biggest soybean buyers, reported a net profit of US$560.8mil (RM2.5bil) for the three months ended December, compared with a net profit of US$330.2mil (RM1.47bil) a year earlier.
Fourth-quarter core net profit, which excludes non-operating items, rose 70% to US$589.5mil (RM2.63bil). Revenue at Wilmar, which counts US agricultural products trader Archer Daniels Midland Co among its shareholders, was up 26.7%.
However, Wilmar’s 2016 annual net profit fell 5% to US$972.2mil (RM4.33bil), its smallest in nine years, due to untimely purchases of soybeans which led to a loss in the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, pretax profit at the company’s tropical oils segment rose 94% to US$184.3mil (RM821.61mil), led by its plantation business which benefited from higher crude palm oil prices. Its oilseeds and grains segment recorded a profit before tax of US$177.9mil (RM793.08mil), an 8% increase.
Pre-tax profit at the sugar business rose 68% to US$135.9mil (RM605.84mil).
“Barring unforeseen circumstances, performance in 2017 is expected to be satisfactory,” chairman and CEO Kuok Khoon Hong said in a statement.
