Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 19, 2015.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) saw its net profit for the fourth financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (4QFY15) climb 9.1% to RM186.29 million or 17.5 sen per share from RM170.75 million or 16 sen per share a year ago.

The better net income was due to higher dividend income from Synthomer plc, surpluses on the sale of land and government acquisitions, and realised foreign exchange gain arising from the repayment of US dollar advances by an overseas subsidiary to the company. Revenue for the quarter grew 41.37% to RM3.93 billion against RM2.78 billion in 4QFY14.

The company  recommended a 30 sen final dividend for FY15, payable on March 15, 2016, bringing its total dividend to 45 sen per share. KLK paid a total of 55 sen dividend in FY14. For FY15, KLK’s net profit fell 12.28% to RM869.91 million or 81.7 sen per share from RM991.71 million or 93.1 sen per share in FY14, mainly dragged down by the plantation, manufacturing and oleochemical segment, which posted a lower profit for the year. This is despite revenue for FY15 coming in 22.64% higher at RM13.65 billion from RM11.13 billion last year.

According to KLK, its plantation segment recorded a 24.2% drop in profit to RM766.8 million in FY15 versus RM1.01 billion last year, attributable to the lower selling prices of crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernel and rubber.

The increase in cost of production of CPO also weighed down the profitability of the segment.

KLK said the current palm oil price has been affected by high stocks, ample supply of competing oils, and the levy of US$50 (RM219) per tonne on CPO in Indonesia.

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