KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOP) said on Thursday its net profit more than doubled in the fourth quarter (4Q) from a year earlier thanks to higher production and sales volume.

Net profit for the three months ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) was RM113.61 million compared with RM47.87 million over the same period a year earlier, SOP said in an exchange filing. Revenue for the quarter rose 28% year-on-year to RM1.47 billion from RM1.15 billion.

“The group is taking effective steps to improve its production through aggressive recovery programme, including cost control and replanting programme,” SOP said. The company flagged that the industry will continue to face challenges due to global economic conditions and softening commodity prices.

The company did not declare any dividends.

The company achieved average palm products' realised prices of RM3,778 per tonne in 4QFY2023 and RM2,262 per tonne for palm kernel products.

For the full-year (FY2023) however, net profit fell 37% to RM300.45 million, or 33.75 per share, from RM479.65 million or 54.56 sen per share due to lower average realised prices of palm products. Revenue slipped 3.5% to RM5.12 billion from RM5.3 billion.

Shares of SOP dipped one sen or 0.4% to RM2.84, valuing the company at RM2.53 billion on Bursa Malaysia ahead of the results announcement.