By BERNAMA / Pic BLOOMBERG

IOI Corp Bhd’s net profit rose to RM355.7 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (2Q21), from RM213.5 million in 2Q20, mainly due to contributions from its plantation segment.

However, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group noted that the higher-earning was partially offset by the lower operational contribution from its resource-based manufacturing segment.

Meanwhile, its revenue for the quarter jumped to RM2.45 billion from RM1.96 billion in the same quarter the previous year.

For 2Q21, its plantation segment recorded a profit of RM340.3 million — 94% higher than 2Q20’s profit of RM175.3 million, mainly due to higher crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK) prices realised, as well as a higher share of associate’s results.

“However, this was partly offset by the lower fresh fruit bunches production,” said IOI Corp.

In 2Q21, it said the average CPO price rose to RM2,992 per tonne from RM2,246 per tonne in 2Q20, and PK prices increased to RM1,982 per tonne from RM1,393 per tonne previously.

Meanwhile, IOI Crop said the resource-based manufacturing segment’s profit of RM21.2 million for the quarter was 29% lower than the profit recorded in 2Q20, mainly due to lower contribution from the oleo-chemical sub-segment.

“However, this was mitigated by the higher contribution from the refining subsegment,” said the group.

Moving forward, the group anticipates its overall financial performance for the financial year ending June 30, 2021, to be good, with a strong performance from its plantation segment, but expects this to be partially offset by weaker performance from its resource-based manufacturing segment.

It noted that the US dollar is expected to remain relatively weak in the short to medium term, which would result in less fluctuation in foreign exchange translation gain or loss on its US dollar-denominated borrowings.