Palm oil firm Wilmar Q2 net triples, outlook cloudy
Author: Admin | Filed under: UncategorizedBy Jennifer Tan
SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Wilmar, the world’s largest listed palm oil firm, said on Thursday its quarterly net profit more than tripled on high palm oil prices, but warned of moderating prices and a more challenging environment ahead.
Singapore-headquartered Wilmar International Ltd said easing demand for palm oil due to a slowing global economy, coupled with ample supply from
It is still optimistic its full-year performance will be “satisfactory”, helped by a strong showing from its
Commodity prices, including palm oil, have been falling since early July.
Wilmar, which owns oil palm plantations and runs milling, crushing, refining and processing plants in Indonesia and Malaysia, earned $331.7 million in the April-June quarter, compared with $101.5 million a year ago, thanks to improved margins and buoyant palm oil prices.
The company made its trading debut in
Last year, it completed the purchase of the palm plantation and edible oils businesses belonging to
Revenue in the second quarter more than doubled to $7.83 billion.
On Tuesday, Singapore-listed peer Golden Agri reported its quarterly net profit more than doubled to $582.2 million on historically high crude palm oil prices.
Shares in Wilmar, valued at about $19 billion, gained 21 percent in April-June, outperforming a 2 percent drop in the benchmark Straits Times Index. Wilmar is expected to post a net profit of $1.06 billion for calendar-year 2008, against $580.4 million in 2007, according to 13 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates before the quarterly results.
Wilmar trades at about 16.5 times forecast earnings, compared with 7 times for Golden Agri and 11.9 times for
