An Olam sign is pictured at their Singapore office on August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
Aug 11 (Reuters) – Singapore’s Olam Group (OLAG.SI) announced on Friday that it aims to list its agriculture division by the first half of 2024, and the commodities trader reported an 88.8% fall in first-half profit due a lower crop yield from his almond orchards in Australia.
The company said in May it does not expect the dual listing of Olam Agri in Singapore and Saudi Arabia to be completed in the first half of this year as initially planned.
The company previously announced that it plans to take its Olam Food Ingredients unit public as part of a business overhaul. The listing will follow Olam Agri’s IPO, the company confirmed on Friday.
Olam Agri, which trades grains and animal feed, cooking oils, rice and cotton, reported first-half earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) that fell 9%.
Olam Group, one of the world’s largest soft commodities traders, reported a profit of S$48 million (US$35.6 million) for the six months ended June 30, compared to S$429.1 million a year earlier.
Last month the company reported reduced bee activity during pollination. Adverse weather events, including unusually cold weather with excessive rain and flooding, resulted in an unexpected decline in yield and quality of Australia’s 2023 almond crop.
“We have budgeted for higher interest costs and optimized the cost structures overall. However, we are not immune to the near-term impact of rapid interest rate hikes affecting businesses worldwide,” said CFO N Muthukumar.
EBIT for the company’s food ingredients segment, which trades cocoa, coffee, nuts, dairy and spices, rose 3.4%.
Olam Group declared an interim dividend of 3 Singapore cents, compared to 4 Singapore cents a year ago. ($1 = 1.3490 Singapore Dollars)
Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Edited by Shinjini Ganguli and Shounak Dasgupta
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Comments are closed.