SINGAPORE (May 7): Agribusiness group Wilmar International saw its 1Q15 earnings jump 49.1% to US$241.2 million ($320.8 million) from US$161.8 million a year ago.

The group&rsquo s core net profit (excluding non-operating items) grew 22.7% to US$263.32 million in 1Q15 compared to US$214.57 million in 1Q2014.

Revenue in 1Q, however, fell 8.3% to US$9.41 billion from US$10.27 billion a year earlier due to lower commodity prices.

In its SGX filing, Wilmar said the higher net profit in 1Q15 was led by its strong performance from oilseeds and grains (manufacturing and consumer products) as well as higher contributions from associates.

However, tropical oils (plantation and manufacturing) and sugar (merchandising, manufacturing and consumer products) saw weaker performances in 1Q2015, amid tougher operating conditions in their respective markets.

As at March 31, 2015, total assets stood at US$42.77 billion while shareholders&rsquo funds was US$15.47 billion. Net gearing ratio improved to 0.73 times from 0.78 times in Dec 31, 2014.

Commenting on its prospects, Kuok Khoon Hong, Wilmar chairman and chief executive officer, said crush margins are expected to remain positive going into mid of 2015 while consumer products will continue to grow globally with reasonable margins.

&ldquo Although operating conditions for tropical oils will remain challenging, we believe we will be able to overcome the current difficult environment, especially if the Indonesian government implements its proposed support policy for biodiesel. Overall, we are cautiously optimistic that second quarter performance will be satisfactory,&rdquo he added.

Wilmar closed 2 cents higher at $3.19 today.

 

 

 

Wilmar ding dong between 3.10 and 3.22 few times already. Moving in such a narrow range, really testing my patient. 

Wilmar

Outperform (S$3.19) quote -

CIMB upgrades Wilmar to Outperform from

Neutral and raises its target price to S$3.90

from S$3.52, noting that Wilmar’s recent

share buybacks and major shareholders’ share

purchases suggest the stock may have bottomed,

while the stock’s poor showing this

year is an over-reaction to its poor earnings

visibility