Wilmar's Q3 net profit soars 47% to $552.5m

Tropical oils and oilseeds & grains segments reported good yields.

Asian agribusiness group Wilmar International Limited has seen better yields in the past quarter after it reported a 47% increase in net profit to US$392.2m ($552.5m), climbing from US$267.6m last year while revenue for the quarter increased 4% to US$11.08 billion.

According to Wilmar CEO Kuok Khoon Hong the recovery from the past quarter was driven by the good performance from the Tropical Oils segment and the Oilseeds and Grains segment.

Tropical Oils achieved an 81% increase in pretax profit to US$169.3 million in 3Q2016 on the back of good performance from downstream businesses. Although plantation results were affected by lower production volume, the impact on pretax profit was marginal, due to improved crude palm oil prices during the quarter. 

Meanwhile, Oilseeds & Grains registered strong pretax profit of US$248.1 million in 3Q2016 from both the Consumer Products and Oilseed crushing businesses.

However, the Sugar segment posted weaker profits due to wet weather in Australia which further delayed cane harvesting activities. It reported a 21% decline in pretax profit to US$86.4 million owing to continued disruption in harvesting due to wet weather in Australia as well as weaker performance by the merchandising business.

"The Group will continue to execute on its stated growth strategy, with emphasis on its downstream businesses and focusing on high growth markets in Asia and Africa. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Group’s performance for the rest of the year is expected to be satisfactory," Kuok noted.