KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) fell 34.4% to RM82.34 million from RM125.49 million for the same period last year on higher production costs following increases in fertiliser and labour costs.

Earnings per share shrank to 9.25 sen from 14.63 sen previously, according to the oil palm planter's filing with Bursa Malaysia.

It did not declare dividend for the quarter under review compared with the four sen dividend announced for 3QFY2021.

Quarterly revenue, however, climbed 1.71% to RM1.32 billion from RM1.3 billion.

For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2022 (9MFY2022), Sarawak Oil Palms' earnings jumped 42.6% to RM431.79 million from RM302.87 million as 9MFY2022 revenue grew 36.8% to RM4.16 billion from RM3.04 billion.

Looking ahead, Sarawak Oil Palms expects the group's performance will be affected by labour shortages and global world edible oil price movements.

This is further exacerbated by the effect of the supply chain on fertilisers, chemicals and fuel prices which will affect the costs of production, the group said.

"If the present commodity price sustains, the group is expected to maintain a favourable financial performance," it added.

Sarawak Oil Palms' share price settled two sen or 0.76% lower at RM2.60 on Friday (Nov 25), bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM2.31 billion.