IOI Corp's 2Q net profit down to RM335.40m

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — IOI Corporation Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (2Q FY2024) narrowed to RM335.40 million from RM712.10 million recorded in the same quarter of FY2023, mainly due to lower contribution from resource-based manufacturing segment.

Revenue also fell to RM2.40 billion from RM3.30 billion previously, IOI Corp said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

The group said the plantation segment profit for 2Q FY2024 of RM319.4 million was three per cent lower than that for 2Q FY2023 of RM328.2 million.

“The resource-based manufacturing segment profit for 2Q FY2024 is RM85.0 million compared to RM464.3 million for 2Q FY2023,” it said.

For the first six months of its financial year ending June 30, 2024 (1H FY2024), the plantation-based group’s net profit slipped to RM639.40 million against RM879.60 million recorded in 1H FY2023, with revenue also contracting to RM4.60 billion from RM6.97 billion previously.

Moving forward, IOI Corp projected that the palm fruit production would be moderately higher than the last financial year's corresponding period for the plantation segment, mainly due to labour productivity improvement and higher production from young palm trees in its Indonesian and Peninsular Malaysian plantations.

“We continue to hold a positive outlook on the operating performance for our plantation segment during the remaining periods of FY2024,” it said.

For our refinery and commodity marketing sub-segment, the group expects the current low or negative refining margins to persist, mainly due to the overcapacity of refineries in Indonesia and the raw material price advantage from their country’s crude palm oil export duty policy.

“Overall, the group anticipates its operating performance for the remaining quarters of FY2024 to be satisfactory amidst a challenging global economic environment,” it added.

The group has declared a first interim single-tier dividend of 4.5 sen per ordinary share for the financial year ending June 30, 2024, payable to shareholders on March 21, 2024. — Bernama