KUALA LUMPUR (July 30): Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd group president and chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Arshad said the worst could be "over" for the oil palm plantation group based on the commodity's output and price dynamics.  
 
The Edge Malaysia business and investment weekly (Edge Weekly), in its latest August 1-7 issue, quoted Zakaria as saying that Felda Global's optimistic outlook was based on observation of its plantations, where oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production had declined at a lower rate from a year earlier.

“In our experience, from our plantations, we gauge that the worst is over,” Zakaria told Edge Weekly in an interview. 

Edge Weekly reported that Felda Global's June oil palm FFB production declined 1.5% from a year earlier compared with the 14.6% and 19.7% drop in May and April respectively.

Quoting analysts, Edge Weekly also reported that Felda Global's second quarter financials could have improved from the preceding first quarter on higher FFB output and crude palm oil (CPO) prices. 

Bloomberg data showed that Malaysian CPO for September 2016 delivery closed higher at RM2,336 a tonne yesterday. On July 12 this year, the price was RM2,188 a tonne.

During the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 (1QFY16), Felda Global posted a net loss of RM65.54 million compared to a net profit of RM3.58 million a year earlier. Revenue was higher at RM3.76 billion versus RM2.71 billion.

The company's latest reported net assets per share stood at RM1.73. Yesterday, Felda Global shares closed unchanged at RM1.85 for a market capitalisation of RM6.75  billion. 

The stock saw 9.08 million shares traded. Felda Global shares had gained  8.19% this year compared with the FBM KLCI's 2.32% drop.

For a better understanding on Felda Global under Zakaria's stewardship, kindly pick up and read the latest Edge Weekly issue.

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