Leading Asian agribusiness Wilmar International (Wilmar) has announced record net profits of US$1.165bn for the first half of this year following improved performance in all key business units.
Revenue for the Singapore-based company in the first half of this year increased by 22% to US$36.13bn from US$29.53bn in the same period last year in line with higher commodity prices, the company said on 4 August.
The company’s performance was supported by improved sales in the Food Products and Feed and Industrial Product segment – particularly in oilseeds and grains – in the period, helped by the recovery of crushing margins and increased crushing volumes of soyabeans.
However, total sales volume for the segment had decreased by 5% to 24.8M tonnes compared to 26.2M tonnes in the same period last year, Wilmar said, mainly due to lower sales volume of tropical oils and sugar during the period.
“Results of the tropical oils business…was satisfactory, given the challenging operating conditions amidst frequent changes in palm oil related government policies during the period,” the company said.
Sales in the company’s Food Products segment had also grown by 4% to 13.8M tonnes, with increased demand for consumer products, particularly in China due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and renewed lockdowns during the period, Wilmar said.
Looking ahead, the company said it was optimistic that its performance for the rest of the year would be “satisfactory”.
“The recent corrections in commodity prices will hopefully restore some of the demand destroyed by high prices and improve margins in the downstream business. At the same time, whilst palm oil prices have fallen from their peak in the second quarter of this year, they remain higher than the pre-COVID period, thus mitigating the effects on oil palm plantation performance,” Wilmar chairman and CEO Kuok Khoon Hong said.
