First Resources’ profit tumbles 36.2% to $42.4m in 1H16

It is still battered by delayed effects of last year’s El Niño.

Still hurting due to prolonged effects of El Niño, First Resources Limited declared a net profit of S$42.4 million (US$31.5 million) in 1H16, a 36.2% decline from S$66.4 million (US$49.3 million) in 1H15.

According to First Resources, the group’s refinery and processing segments pushed sales to grow 15.5% to S$334.6 million (US$248.5 million) in 1H16 from S$289.6 million (US$215.1 million) last year. Profit for the first half of 2016, however, slid as a result of poor production volumes and yields on top of the effects of lower average selling prices.

“Production and yields suffered lagged impact of the dry weather in 2015. On the production front, the group harvested 1.0 million tonnes of fresh fruit bunches in 1H16, a 15.5% falloff compared to 1H15. Crude palm oil production dipped 18.8% YoY to 246,961 tonnes. Overall yields for the first half weakened with FFB yield at 6.5 tonnes per hectare compared to 8.4 tonnes per hectare in 1H2015,” First Resources explained.

For 2Q16, net profit was at S$35.1 million (US$26.1 million), a measly increase of 4.2% compared to 2Q15, while EBITDA was at S$70.9 million (US$52.7 million), a marginal drop of 3.6%, the group added.