KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 ― Priceworth International Bhd has been approved to manage and harvest in two more forest compartments, encompassing 1,446 hectares (ha), within Forest Management Unit 5 (FMU5) for a 12-month period.
In a statement today, the timber and sustainable forest management group said, the Sabah Forest Department (SFD) had issued coupe permits for Compartments 63 and 64A in FMU5.
“We expect the timber harvested from these two compartments to contribute positively financially, and to raise the throughput volume of our plywood manufacturing facility,” said Priceworth Executive Director, Richard Koo.
The company had first commenced harvesting Compartments 57 and 58 late 2017 with SFD’s approval.
The contribution from FMU5 saw Priceworth tripling its first-half net profit to RM4.78 million from RM1.32 million previously.
Revenue also jumped 32.5 per cent to RM89.3 million from RM67.4 million, it said.
In October 2016, Priceworth had proposed to acquire FMU5, comprising roughly 89,000 ha of Class II commercial forest reserves, as part of its game-changing, transformative acquisition.
FMU5 is managed as sustainable forest under a licence expiring in 2097. ― Bernama
