Malaysia’s second largest palm oil producer IOI Corp Bhd (1961)saw its first-quarter net profit rise by 65 per cent from a year earlier, on stronger contributions from its property and manufacturing segments.

The net profit, which came in at RM478.4 million, was also boosted by unrealised translation gains on its US-dollar denominated borrowings. IOI, in a filing to the stock exchange yesterday, said the rest of the year will continue to be challenging despite signs of improvement in the global economy. Still, the group is “optimistic” that it will turn in a better performance this year. It made a net profit of RM983.5 million for the last fiscal year ended June 30 2009. IOI’s revenue in the first quarter this year fell to RM3.3 billion compared with RM4.7 billion before.
Its operating profit in the plantation division fell by 56 per cent due to weaker palm oil prices and lower production. The average crude palm oil price realised for the quarter was RM2,294 per tonne compared with RM3,391 per tonne a year earlier. The group said its resource-based manufacturing segment saw higher profits despite lower sales as the previous quarter had included foreign exchange losses. Meanwhile, operating profit in the property development and investment segments was about 2.4 times more than a year earlier, due mainly to increased sales of higher-end residential and commercial properties in the Klang Valley. IOI’s share price rose 6 sen to RM5.39 yesterday. Source : Business Times
]]>