Revenue for 3Q17 rose 0.4% to US$11.1 billion supported by increased sales from Oilseeds & Grains but cost of sales increased a steeper 1.7% to US$10.1 billion. As a result, gross profit ended 10.9% lower at $1.02 billion.
In the quarter under review, Tropical Oils reported a 51% decline in pretax profit to US$83.1 million in 3Q17 mainly due to lower processing margins.
It expects processing margins to improve in the fourth quarter on a sequential basis, CFO KK Ho told reporters on a conference call.
Oilseeds & Grains registered strong pretax profit of US$253.7 million in 3Q17, driven by higher crush volume and good crush margins.
Sugar reported a 13% decline in pretax profit to US$75.2 million due to the timing effect from the new Sugar marketing programme in Australia.
The Others segment recorded a pretax profit of US$56.4 million, mainly due to higher dividend income received and gains from the group’s investment portfolio as well as from the Shipping and Fertiliser businesses.
Joint Ventures & Associates saw pretax profit increase 79% to US$51.3 million, mainly from the group’s associates in India, Eastern Europe and Morocco.
As at Sept 30, total assets stood at US$39.27 billion while shareholders’ funds was US$15.39 billion.
Net debt declined by US$630.5 million to US$11.06 billion. Correspondingly, net gearing ratio improved to 0.72x from 0.81x.
Kuok Khoon Hong, Chairman and CEO, says, “We expect the good performance in the Oilseeds & Grains segment to continue into the fourth quarter, with crush margins and volume anticipated to remain positive. Performance of the other major business segments is expected to be satisfactory. With good economic performance in key Asian countries, we remain optimistic about the future of Asia. We will continue with our expansion plans, especially in Oilseeds and Grains including Consumer Products.”
Wilmar is evaluating a separate listing of its operations in China, its biggest market by revenue, in the second half of 2019, CFO Ho said.
Shares in Wilmar closed 1 cent higher at $3.32 on Monday.
