KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) will keep any necessary price increase for its products at a single-digit amid the rise in commodity and raw material prices.

Chief executive officer Lim Yew Hoe said the products price increase would depend on products categories as well as their price sensitivity.

“On average, if we need to increase prices as a last resort, we would like to keep it to a single digit,” he told reporters at the company’s first-half financial year 2021 results virtual briefing today.

To-date, he said the company had not raised the prices of its products much as hedging measures helped the company to lower cost amid the current unfavourable commodities price movement.

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Meanwhile, chief financial officer Kah Shen Lai said in general, F&N hedged within three, six and nine months or even up to a year depending on the price that the company could get and the outlook for that particular commodity.

Asked on freight price hike impact on export, Kah said the cost increase is phenomenal by about 200-300 per cent and F&N is also facing a slow turnaround to fulfil orders due to the lack of containers.

He said Covid-19 pandemic has also affected the group’s expansion plans but that did not stop the company to further tap into the overseas markets.

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F&N registered a slightly higher net profit of RM103.5 million in the second quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Q2FY21) from RM102.2 million in Q2FY20, with revenue rising to RM1.09 billion from RM1.01 billion driven by domestic sales and exports amid Covid-19-related constraints.

At present, exports contributed 21 per cent to group revenue and the company sees positive demand and exports momentum both in Malaysia and Thailand operations despite the pandemic. — Bernama