By Chester Tay

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd.'s swung to a net profit for the third quarter ended Sept, 30, driven by higher crude palm oil and palm kernel prices, coupled with lower impairment charges.

Net profit for the quarter was 190.0 million ringgit ($46.4 million), versus a net loss of MYR243.0 million a year earlier, the plantation group said in a stock exchange filing Monday. The group's 3Q revenue grew 13% to MYR3.18 billion.

For the first nine months of the year, Sime Darby Plantation's net profit was MYR1.04 billion, compared with a net loss of MYR142.0 million a year earlier, while revenue grew 8.7% to MYR9.44 billion.

The group said it expects its performance in 2020 to improve from last year, and it will continue to focus on increasing productivity while reducing its reliance on labor, given a worsening labor shortage in Malaysia.

Write to Chester Tay at chester.tay@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This article was corrected at 0628 GMT to reflect that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd. swung to net profit for the third quarter. The original version of this article incorrectly said net profit had risen.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-23-20 0028ET