Wilmar’s Q1 net profit plunges 22.6% YoY

Lower earnings from some of its business units and investments in China pulled Wilmar’s net profit down.

Wilmar International Limited reported a net profit of $412.07m (US$302.91m) in the first three months of 2024, down 22.6% year-on-year (YoY) due to the weaker performance of some of its main business units.

In a bourse filing, the company reported a $446.78m (US$328.42m) core net income in the first quarter of the year, down 14% YoY.

Wilmar said its revenue in the first three months declined 7.3% to $21.33b (US$15.68b) as most commodity prices declined from a year ago. This lowered the cost of raw materials, thus improving profit in the Food Products segment with a 13.9% YoY increase in sales volume.

However, Wilmar’s sugar merchandising division underperformed, pulling down profit in the Feed and Industrial Products segment, whilst the tropical oils and crushing businesses remained challenging. Share of profits from joint ventures and associates also declined during the quarter, mainly due to investments in China, the company noted. 

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“Despite the challenges faced across most of our businesses during the quarter, results for 1Q2024 are satisfactory,” the company said.

“The global economic outlook is expected to remain uncertain throughout 2024 and we foresee the difficult operating conditions to continue into the year. Nevertheless, with our diversified and integrated business model, we expect results for the rest of the year to remain satisfactory,” it added.

US$1=S$1.36