KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOPB) remains cautious on the outlook for 2021 amid the uncertainty of the global edible oil supply-demand dynamic and geographical politics headwinds.
In its 2020 annual report released today, the company said the price outlook for crude palm oil, however, remained favourable for 2021 amid the tighter palm oil stocks, concerns over weather impact on edible oils supplies as well as labour shortage faced by the oil palm industry in Malaysia,
“The business environment is expected to be challenging amid the labour shortages across the industry exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“(Therefore,) the group will continue to review its business model, ensure a lean and cost-effective structure and concurrently strive to realise the full potential of its existing assets,” it added.
SOPB posted a group profit after tax of RM220.16 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020, compared to RM91.59 million in 2019 although its revenue fell 6.5 per cent to RM2.78 billion.
It attributed the improvement in profit mainly to the higher palm products’ prices realised during the year. The average realised price for CPO was RM2,729 per tonne compared to RM2,122 per tonne in 2019. — Bernama
