Bumitama Agri has reported a 36.4% y-o-y decline in earnings for the 1QFY2021 ended March to IDR166.7 billion ($15.6 million) in its quarterly update on May 11.
Despite a 14.4% increase in revenue to IDR2.4 trillion for the period, gross profit fell by 6% y-o-y to IDR507.1 million, which the group attributes to an increase in crude palm oil (CPO) levy and export tax.
Higher cost of sales from a higher average purchase price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) arising from the increase in CPO price also contributed to the lower gross profit. As a result, gross margins fell 4.8 percentage points to 22% compared to 26.8% in the 1QFY2020.
Bumitama Agri noted an increase in selling prices, in line with the increase in sales volume of palm products. To that end, ebitda fell 8.1% y-o-y to IDR510.2 million.
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Net profit decreased by 23.2% y-o-y to IDR192 million for the quarter.
Despite the lower earnings, Bumitama Agri highlights that the group saw better production volume, with FFB internal production increasing by 24.8% y-o-y due to conducive weather in 2020 and an optimal fertilisation programme, while FFB yield increased 19.5% y-o-y from 4.1 metric tonnes per hectare (mt/ha) to 4.9 mt/ha.
Shares in Bumitama Agri closed flat at 47.5 cents on May 10.
