AGRI-FOOD giant Olam International on Friday announced that Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) is targeting a primary listing on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and a concurrent listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

 

The company also reported a net profit of S$421.5 million for the half-year ended June 30 - 26.7 per cent higher than the S$332.7 million a year ago.

 

Operational profits after tax and minority interests (Patmi) more than doubled to S$436.6 million and was the strongest since its inception as the company proceeds with its reorganisation plan previously announced in January 2020. Revenue grew 33.7 per cent to S$22.83 billion, from S$17.08 billion a year earlier, on the back of strong growth from both Olam Global Agri (OGA) as well as OFI.

 

In February 2021, the company announced plans to list OFI by 2022. It said on Friday that OFI is on track for the initial public offering (IPO) by the first half of next year. OFI was created in early 2020, following a reorganisation of Olam, and includes the company' s cocoa, coffee, edible nuts, spices and dairy businesses.

 

Said Olam group executive director and OFI chief executive officer A Shekhar: " The primary listing on the LSE will give us access to London' s large and diverse investor base, with its deep and liquid capital markets, and enable us to benefit from its strong understanding of and research coverage across the food and beverage sector."

 

He added that the concurrent Singapore listing will let the company retain its local shareholder base and tap growing investor appetite in Asia.

 

For the first-half year, OFI' s revenue increased 12.6 per cent to S$6.8 billion, and contributed 29.8 per cent to total group revenue.

 

Meanwhile OGA' s revenue grew 48.2 per cent year on year to S$15.5 billion, contributing 67.8 per cent to total group revenue. Earnings per share based on weighted average number of shares for the six-month period ended June 30 stood at 12.09 Singapore cents per share, up from 9.54 cents a year earlier. The company also declared an interim dividend of four cents per ordinary share for the half-year period, which will be paid out on Aug 30.