KUCHING: Rimbunan Sawit Bhd has narrowed its group net loss to RM7.11 million in financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY2021) from RM44.1 million in FY2020, thanks to the buoyant oil palm prices, despite drop in production and sales volume of fresh fruit bunches (FFB), crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK).
Year-on-year, group revenue rose sharply to RM558.3 million from RM385.5 million in 2020.
Losses per share decreased to 0.35 sen from 2.16 sen.
In FY2021, Rimbunan Sawit recorded a 74 per cent hike in the average selling price of FFB to RM854 per metric tonne (FY2020: RM491) while the average selling price of CPO rose 61.3 per cent to RM4.278 per tonne (RM2,652). The group’s average selling price of PK surged 81 per cent to RM2,679 per tonne (RM1,480).
However, the sales volume of CPO fell 7.9 per cent to 103,527 tonnes (112,403 tonnes) and that of PK slipped 7.5 per cent to 22,359 tonnes (24,172 tonnes) year-on-year.
Also performing poorly is the production volume of FFB, which plunged 21.8 per cent to 192,732 tonnes (FY2020: 246,501 tonnes) while the production volume of CPO declined 8.2 per cent to 103,126 tonnes (112,376 tonnes). The group also registered lower production output of PK by 8.2 per cent to 22,109 tonnes (24,078 tonnes).
In Q42021, Rimbunan Sawit saw its group revenue surged to RM182.9 million from RM111.5 million in Q42020. The group, however, remained in the red with smaller losses of RM3.2 million, down from losses of RM36.4 million previously.
The company attributed the 64 per cent growth in revenue in the current quarter to stronger selling prices of FFB and palm products. The sale price of FFB shot up by 65.5 per cent to RM1,013 per tonne from RM612 tonnes in Q42020.
Similarly, during the same period, the average selling price of CPO rose by 71.6 per cent to RM5,025 per tonne from RM2,928 per tonne while that of PK climbed by 95 per cent to RM3,456 per tonne from RM1,772 per tonne.
Again, the group has reported lower production of FFB, CPO and PK and sales of CPO and PK in the current quarter under review. In Q42021, the production volume of FFB declined by 11.6 per cent to 52,258 tonnes (Q42020: 59,145 tonnes), production volume of CPO by 3.1 per cent to 28,393 tonnes (29,289 tonnes) while the production volume of PK dipped by 1.7 per cent to 6,165 tonnes (6,269 tonnes).
Both sales volume of CPO and PK declined marginally by 2.1 per cent in the current quarter under review to 28,880 tonnes (28,299 tonnes) and 6,382 tonnes (6,254 tonnes).
The company’s Q42021 financial performance was weaker than Q32021 when group net profit stood at RM6.68 million (Q42021: -RM3.18 million) despite increase in revenue to RM182.9 million from RM141.2 million.
“Revenue increased by 29.5 per cent to RM182.9 million mainly due to higher average selling price achieved on FFB, CPO and PK by 21.3 per cent, 17.3 per cent and 47.2 per cent to RM1,013, RM5,025 and RM3,456 per tonne respectively as compared to immediate preceding quarter.
“Besides that, the production volume for FFB, CPO and PK have increased by 8.9 per cent, 6.8 per cent and 10.5 per cent to 52,258MT, 28,393MT and 6,165MT respectively as compared to immediate preceding quarter.
“Concurrently, the group recorded loss before tax of RM3.1 million, it decreased in comparison to immediate preceding quarter due to group revaluation reserve amortisation of RM13.4 million.
However, the amount was mitigated with gain on fair value changes on biological assets of RM2.0 million,” Rimbunan Sawit said in accompanying notes to its financials.
Commenting on prospects, Rimbunan Sawit said: “CPO price is expected to remain strong until early 2022 supported by the global edible oil supply tightness as well as good demand as the global economy continues to improve.
“For our plantation segment, the CPO production is expected to be lower than initially anticipated due to the impact from adverse weather arising from the La Nina phenomenon and unresolved labour shortage situation
“Nevertheless, with the expectation of firm palm oil prices and demand of the market, we remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook of the plantation segment.”
