FGV Berhad : Malaysia's FGV posts fourth-quarter profit on higher margins, lower expenses

Malaysia's FGV Holdings, the world's largest palm oil producer, on Friday reported a profit for the fourth quarter, compared with a loss a year earlier, helped by improved crude palm oil margins and lower operating costs.

The company, which posted a profit of 75.8 million ringgit ($17.9 million), said lower impairment losses also helped the October-December quarter.

FGV had posted a loss of 209.2 million ringgit for the same quarter last year.

However, the company's revenue fell to 3.15 billion ringgit from 3.2 billion ringgit due to lower yields as a result of dry weather.

The profit was achieved on the back of FGV's aggressive transformation programme, Haris Fadzilah Hassan, the company's group chief executive officer, said in a statement.

FGV has been working to diversify its business. It recently acquired a 60% stake in Malaysian milk producer RedAgri Farm.

"While palm oil will remain our mainstay, this is an exciting diversification that will bring us and our smallholder partners added revenue and opportunities for growth," Fadzilah said.

FGV said it expects additional revenue of 45 million ringgit in 2020 from its integrated farming, renewable energy and animal feed businesses.

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Maju Samuel)