KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corp Bhd's net profit dropped 37.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to RM123.1 million in the third quarter ended Mar 31, 2024 (Q3FY24) on paper losses from foreign currency exchange and fair value adjustments RM144 milion in the quarter.
It made a net profit of RM197.4 million in the same period last year.
Profit before tax (PBT) for the quarter was actually six per cent higher at RM328.7 million for Q3FY24 compared with PBT of RM310.8 million for Q3FY23.
This was mainly due to higher contribution from plantation segment, partially offset by lower contribution from resource-based manufacturing segment.
Revenue for the quarter however slipped 7.4 per cent YoY to RM2.46 billion compared with RM2.6 billion a year ago.
The plantation segment profit for Q3 FY2024 of RM244.9 million was 11 per cent higher than the profit for Q3 FY2023 of RM221.2 million.
The higher profit reported was due mainly to higher oil extraction rate, partially offset by lower fresh fruit bunch production.
While the resource-based manufacturing segment profit for Q3FY24 was RM44.4 million as compared to RM50.8 million in Q3FY23.
The lower profit reported was due mainly to lower margins from oleochemical sub-segment as well as lower sales volume from refining sub-segment, mitigated by higher share of associates results.
For the nine-month period, the company's net profit dropped 29.2 per cent to RM762.5 million from RM1.1 billion in the corresponding period last year.
While its revenue dropped to RM7.06 billion from RM9.6 billion in the same period the previous year.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said crude palm oil (CPO) price has seen significant fluctuations in recent months. "Looking ahead, we project an increase in CPO production due to seasonal trends. This increase, coupled with the expected good soybean harvest in South America, may pose challenges for CPO price.
"However, the anticipated replenishment of palm oil stock by importing countries with low inventories will provide support to CPO price.
"Consequently, we expect CPO price to hover within the range of RM3,700 to RM4,100 per metric ton during the next three months," it said.