Rebound in commodity prices sends IndoAgri's Q1 earnings up 70%

SINGAPORE - IndoAgri, a Singapore-listed agribusiness group, has posted a 70 per cent jump in net profit for the first quarter of the year over the same period a year ago.

Net profit rose to 182 billion rupiah (S$20 million), on the back of a 2 per cent rise in revenue to 3.2 trillion rupiah, the group said on Wednesday.

It attributed its robust results to a "strong recovery in commodity prices", especially that of crude palm oil and palm kernel. The group's selling prices for these two products rose in the first quarter by 43 per cent and 107 per cent respectively.

Earnings per share for the group rose 73 per cent to 128 rupiah (1.4 Singapore cents) from 74 rupiah a year ago.

Net asset value per share edged up to 9,989 rupiah as at Mar 31, from 9,876 rupiahas at Dec 31 last year.

The group's chief executive officer and executive director Mark Wakeford said IndoAgri has recently increased its RSPO-certified crude palm oil volume by 43,000 tonnes annually to 291,000 tonnes in all.

"With the lingering effects of an economic slowdown, 2014 is anticipated to be another challenging year for agriculture companies," IndoAgri said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Nonetheless, the world economy is showing signs of an upturn, led by sooner-than-expected recoveries in the developing countries and especially the United States."

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