PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s (KLK) net profit for the second quarter ended March 31, 2022 rose 11.4% to RM546.57 million from RM490.44 million a year ago, mainly contributed by the plantation and manufacturing segments.
The group recorded revenue of RM6.38 billion, an increase of 41.6% compared with RM4.5 billion in the preceding year’s corresponding quarter.
Plantation recorded a higher profit of RM423.3 million driven by significantly higher crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel selling prices and profit contribution from newly acquired subsidiaries.
The higher profit in manufacturing was mainly attributable to higher contribution from the oleochemical division and refineries and kernel-crushing operations.
For the cumulative six months period, its net profit increased 35.2% to RM1.15 billion from RM847.85 million. The group’s revenue for the six months increased 50% to RM13.2 billion from RM8.81 billion in the preceding year’s corresponding period.
The group declared an interim single-tier dividend of 20 sen per share for the financial year ending Sept 30, 2022 to be paid to shareholders on Aug 2, 2022.
KLK said CPO prices continued to rally due to tight edible oils supplies worldwide exacerbated by supply disruptions arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and are expected to remain high in the near term.
“With the strong CPO prices and intensified mechanisation efforts to alleviate the labour shortage, we expect to profit from the plantation segment to improve in the second half of the financial year,” the group said in a bourse filing.
For the manufacturing segment, the increase in raw material prices and energy costs, coupled with persistent logistic issues continue to pose challenges in the current financial year.
Nevertheless, KLK said it expects the group’s performance to be satisfactory, supported by robust demand with the recovery in the global economy.
