Astra Agro third-quarter profit triples
JAKARTA: Third-quarter profit at PT Astra Agro Lestari, Indonesia's biggest publicly traded agro company, almost tripled to a record on higher palm oil prices.
Net income surged to 603.34 billion rupiah (US$66mil) from 208.38 billion a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations. The numbers were derived by subtracting previously announced half-year figures from nine-month earnings released yesterday.
Palm oil has risen to a record this year, driven by increased demand led by China, the world's largest importer of vegetable oils. Sales of the commodity, used in food and soaps, have also been boosted by record crude oil prices as palm oil may be used to make biodiesel.
Astra Agro shares have more than doubled in Jakarta trading over the past 12 months.
”Astra Agro had double blessings in the third quarter,'' said Liliana Bambang, a plantations analyst at PT Mandiri Sekuritas. Output in the three months was higher than in the second quarter and prices were high, Bambang said.
Output of crude palm oil totalled 229,978 tonnes in the third quarter compared with 211,314 tonnes in the preceding three months, according to figures on the company's website. – Bloomberg |