SINGAPORE - Bumitama Agri's second-quarter net profit rose 36.1 per cent to 388.06 billion Indonesian rupiah (S$36.6 million) on higher sales volume amid a recovery in palm production, the Indonesian palm oil producer announced on Tuesday (Aug 14) before the stock market opened.

For the three months ended June 30, earnings per share was 222 rupiah, compared to 162 rupiah a year ago. For the first six months of the year, net profit grew 10 per cent to 619.83 billion rupiah, or 354 rupiah per share.

Bumitama is declaring an interim dividend of 0.75 cent per share, in line with its year-ago payout. The stock last traded at 70 cents on Monday.

Second-quarter revenue rose 22.4 per cent to 2.35 trillion rupiah as crude palm oil (CPO) production grew 28.1 per cent to 266,802 tonnes while average CPO price slipped 3.4 per cent to 7,786 rupiah per kilogramme. Total fresh fruit bunch production during the quarter was 1.27 million tonnes, up 31.6 per cent year-on-year.

Bumitama also recorded a net foreign exchange loss of 33 billion rupiah during the quarter, from a 784 million rupiah net gain a year ago, due to translation losses on US dollar-denominated borrowings as the rupiah weakened against the greenback.

Looking ahead, the company expects improving production volumes in the second half of 2018 to help mitigate the impact of lower palm oil prices.