Golden Agri-Resources, a producer of crude palm oil and palm kernel, on Tuesday reported a 71 percent slump in third-quarter profit due to the recognition of deferred tax income in the previous period.
Golden Agri-Resources said net profit fell to US$103 million in the three months ended September 30 compared to US$353 million in the corresponding period a year ago.
Last year profits benefited from a US$215.1 million net tax credit for the nine-month period from recognition of deferred income tax assets as the company revalued some of its plantation assets in Indonesia. This year, however, Golden Agri incurred instead a US$41.1 million net tax expense.
The company also incurred a foreign exchange loss of US$3.7 million during the first nine months. That was down from a US$50.5 million gain in the year-ago period, when the Indonesian rupiah rallied against the U.S.ollar and Malaysian ringgit hedges contributed fair-value gains.
Revenue rose 10 percent to US$5.6 billion, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Palm fruit production increased 27 percent to 7.31 million tonnes, due to favourable weather conditions after the severe drought of El Niño in 2015.
The average international crude palm oil price for the nine-month period was US$689 per tonne as compared to US$650 per tonne in the first nine months of 2016.
"Crude palm oil market prices have been robust and we are optimistic that they will remain stable for the rest of the year," Chief Executive Officer Franky Widjaja said in a statement.
Golden Agri-Resources declared an interim dividend of 0.693 Singapore cents per share.
Shares in the company fell 1.3 percent at S$0.40 on the Singapore Exchange.
