SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed palm oil company Bumitama Agri announced on Tuesday that its net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014, fell 30 per cent to 266.4 billion Indonesian rupiah (S$28 million) from the year-ago period.

The comoany said the decrease "was due to lower selling prices for both crude palm oil and palm kernel, higher cost of sales, selling expenses, general and administration expenses, other expenses due to withholding tax expenses arising from dividend received by the company from its subsidiary, and loss arising from fair value changes in biological assets."

Revenue rose 20.9 per cent to 1.57 trillion rupiah, mainly due to higher sales volume of crude palm oil and palm kernel.

Earnings per share fell to 152 rupiah for the quarter, from 216 rupiah a year ago.

The company declared an interim dividend of 1.30 cents per share for the full financial year, up from 1.20 cents per share for FY13.

"2015 will continue to be a challenging year for the palm oil industry with slower growth anticipated for the major economies. Nonetheless, the industry fundamentals remain strong as demand for palm oil is expected to increase in line with global consumption growth," the company said.

"The group will continue to increase its production of sustainable palm oil and enhance its operational and cost management efficiency," it added.