FIRST RESOURCES LIMITED (Company Registration No. 200415931M) (Incorporated in Singapore with limited liability)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First Resources achieves record revenue of US$1 billion in FY2021; proposes highest final dividend since listing
- Performance lifted by higher average selling prices and stronger sales volumes
- Proposes a final ordinary dividend of 5.10 Singapore cents per share
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (12 months ended 31 December)
US$' million | FY2021 | FY2020 | Change |
Sales | 1,032.3 | 660.4 | 56.3% |
Gross Profit | 461.6 | 292.4 | 57.9% |
EBITDA(1) | 312.9 | 259.2 | 20.7% |
Net Profit(2) | 161.1 | 99.7 | 61.6% |
Underlying Net Profit (3) | 149.2 | 97.1 | 53.8% |
- Profit from operations before depreciation, amortisation, expected credit losses and gains arising from changes in fair value of biological assets.
- Profit attributable to owners of the Company.
- Profit attributable to owners of the Company excluding expected credit losses and gains/(losses) arising from changes in fair value of biological assets and unquoted investment.
Singapore, 25 February 2022 - First Resources Limited ("First Resources" or the "Group") has delivered a robust set of results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021 ("FY2021"), with EBITDA coming in 20.7% higher year-on-year ("YoY") at US$312.9 million, while underlying net profit rose 53.8% over the preceding year to US$149.2 million.
The strong financial performance was achieved on the back of a 56.3% YoY surge in sales to a record of US$1,032.3 million, driven by a combination of higher average selling prices and stronger sales volumes achieved by the Group.
The Group registered growth in both production volumes and yields in FY2021 with fresh fruit bunches ("FFB") harvested increasing by 2.9% YoY to 3,367,668 tonnes and FFB yield coming in at 17.2 tonnes per hectare as compared to 16.4 tonnes per hectare
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in FY2020. Crude palm oil ("CPO") yield also increased marginally from 3.8 tonnes per hectare in FY2020 to 3.9 tonnes per hectare in FY2021, while CPO production recorded a slight YoY uptick of 1.6% to 869,241 tonnes during the year.
The Group's financial position remains healthy with net gearing ratio at 0.02 times and cash and bank balances of US$381.5 million as at 31 December 2021.
The Board of Directors has proposed a final dividend of 5.10 Singapore cents per share for the financial year ended 31 December 2021, which will bring the full year ordinary dividend to 6.35 Singapore cents per share, representing 50% of the Group's underlying net profit. This is in line with the Group's dividend policy, which was revised last year to distribute up to 50% of the Group's underlying net profit annually, an increase from the 30% previously.
Mr Ciliandra Fangiono, CEO of First Resources, said: "Palm oil prices rallied to record highs in the second half of 2021, fuelled by lower-than-expectedsupplies from key producing regions Malaysia and Indonesia, higher global energy prices and Indonesia's continued commitment to its biodiesel mandate.
"In the near-term, global vegetable oil supplies remain tight due to weather influences impacting production of palm oil and other soft oils, as well as continuing labour shortages at the Malaysian palm oil plantations. This is further exacerbated by export supply disruptions from Indonesia's new Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) policy enforcing palm oil exporters to sell 20% of their export volumes domestically at a stipulated price.
"While the near-term supply tightness has been supportive of palm oil price, its relative pricing against other competing oils and the pace of supply recovery in the rest of the year will exert an influence on the direction of palm oil prices going forward."
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About First Resources Limited
Established in 1992 and listed on the Singapore Exchange since 2007, First Resources is one of the leading palm oil producers in the region, managing over 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia.
Our core business activities include cultivating oil palms, harvesting the fresh fruit bunches ("FFB") and milling them into crude palm oil ("CPO") and palm kernel ("PK"). In addition to plantations and palm oil mills, the Group through its refinery, fractionation, biodiesel and kernel crushing plants, processes its CPO and PK into higher value palm based products such as biodiesel, refined, bleached and deodorised ("RBD") olein, RBD stearin, palm kernel oil and palm kernel expeller. This enables the Group to extract maximum value out of our upstream plantation assets. Our products are sold to both local and international markets.
First Resources is committed to the production of sustainable palm oil. Our sustainability strategy is centered upon maximising output while minimising adverse environmental and social impact from our operations. We will constantly strengthen our sustainability framework through regular benchmarking against industry standards and best practices.
For more information, please visit www.first-resources.com.
For enquiries, please contact: | |
August Consulting | First Resources Limited |
Janice Ong,janiceong@august.com.sg | Tan Xiao Han,xiaohan.tan@first-resources.com |
Wrisney Tan,wrisneytan@august.com.sg | Tel: +65 6602 0200 |
Tel: +65 6733 8873 |
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