Wilmar International profits jumped 26.4% to $349.3m in Q1

Pre-tax profit in the tropical oils segment skyrocketed 81% to $250.88m.

Wilmar International started the year with a bang as net profit climbed 26.4% YoY to $349.3m (US$257m) in Q1 driven by better results in tropical oils, sugar and consumer products.

The firm noted that its tropical oils (plantation, manufacturing & merchandising) saw an 81% surge in pretax profit to $250.88m (US$183.8m) boosted by stronger sales volume and margins from the manufacturing and merchandising businesses. However, this was partially offset by lower crude palm oil (CPO) prices and production yields, which reduced the contributions from the plantation business.

Meanwhile, the oilseeds & grains (manufacturing & consumer products) business saw its pretax profit almost halved (47.2%) to $124.35m (US$91.1m) from $235.59m (US$172.6m) a year ago. The segment succumbed to weaker results from the crushing business, which had been impacted by the African swine fever outbreak in China and a sharp drop in Brazilian soybean basis.

For the sugar (milling, merchandising, refining and consumer products), pretax profit recovered to $2.32m (US$1.7m) from a loss of $53.23m (US$39m) a year ago, thanks to the stronger performance from refining and merchandising activities as well as the contributions from Shree Renuka Sugars Limited, in line with the ongoing sugar milling season in India.

Meanwhile, the share of results from joint ventures & associates saw a 50% decrease to $28.53m (US$20.9m) as the stronger performances by the group’s Europe and Vietnam investments were offset by weaker contributions from the African associates and investments in China.

Wilmar’s earnings per share jumped 28.1% to $0.56 (US$0.41) from $0.44 (US$0.32) a year ago.