KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Plantation Bhd's (SD Plantation) earnings more than double in the second quarter (Q2) of 2021, kicking off what will be a superbull run for Malaysia's major listed plantation companies in their latest three-month results.
SD Plantation announced yesterday that its net profit surged to RM617 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 from the RM378 million recorded in the same period a year ago.
Group revenue soared 37.2 per cent to RM4.41 billion from RM3.22 billion previously.
A few hours after SD Plantation's announcement, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) disclosed a 112.62 per cent surge in net profit to RM783.94 million in the third quarter (Q3) ended June 30, 2021 from RM368.69 million a year ago.
This was achieved on the back of a 39.4 per cent jumped in revenue to RM5.17 billion from RM3.71 billion previously.
Analysts said the super bull run on crude palm oil price (CPO) that had exceeded RM3,500 per tonne was bringing windfall profits to plantation companies.
During the quarter, SD Plantation said it had realised CPO price of RM3,632 per tonne.
Sime Darby Oils (SDO) managing director Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad expects CPO prices to be elevated over the next six months as demand outpaced supply.
CPO price was likely to range between RM4,000 and RM4,700 per tonne over the period, he added.
SDO is SD Plantation's downstream segment.
"We see prices are inching up which is not necessarily a good thing as we have seen a decline in sales as customers are holding back and aren't able to buy as much as they use too in the past. When you combine the fact that the world is going to need more palm oil with the slow growth in supply, this is what you get, purely from supply-demand standpoint.
"CPO prices are supported as there are more speculators who view commodities as an investible asset class than before," Haris told reporters during SD Plantation's Q2 financial briefing yesterday.
For the longer term, he expects to see a more reasonable price range of RM3,000 per tonne to RM3,500 per tonne in 2022 from higher production.
According to the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), it expected to collect extraordinary profits levy of RM950 million in 2020 versus RM165 million last year.
This was due to the surge in CPO prices of more than RM3,500 per tonne from January until May this year.
The ministry has projected CPO price of more than RM2,500 a tonne up until December 2021.
SD Plantation closed 11 sen higher or 2.94 per cent to RM3.85 on Wednesday, while KLK rose 1.95 per cent or 38 sen to RM19.88.