Olam reports full-year net profit of S$444.6m

By Amanda Feng


SINGAPORE : Mainboard-listed Olam International on Monday reported a net profit after tax (including exceptional items) of S$444.6 million for its full year ended June 30, a growth of 23.6 per cent compared to S$359.7 million achieved last year.

This is despite significant volatility in commodity markets, which saw a rally in prices across commodity asset classes during the first nine months, followed by a weakening of prices during the last quarter, particularly towards the end of June.

Olam added that its decision to invest selectively in upstream and midstream growth initiatives with attractive returns, such as plantations and value-added processing, helped enhance margins and strengthen returns.

Olam, which processes agricultural products and food ingredients, said commodity food prices might continue to go up in the light of inflation.

Olam International's CEO, Sunny Verghese, commented: "Although all this economic turmoil has happened, commodity prices and food prices have only come down about one and a half per cent."

"This reflects the strong underlying demand and supply side drivers which will keep commodity prices over the middle and long term pretty elevated," he added.

- CNA/ms