On 9 November 2018, First Resources Ltd (SGX: EB5) released its 2018 third quarter earnings update. As a quick background for context, First Resources is an integrated palm oil producer, managing more than 210,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia. The company organizes its business into two segments: Plantation and Palm Oil Mills; and Refinery and Processing. In this article, I want to look at the positive as well as negative takeaways from First Resources’ latest results. The positives Firstly, First Resources’ revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders for 2018’s third quarter grew significantly compared to a year ago. The former was up by 24.7% to US$171.4 million while the latter cli

Last Friday, First Resources Ltd (SGX: EB5) released its 2018 third-quarter results. As a quick introduction, First Resources is an integrated palm oil producer, managing more than 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia. Here are 10 quick points on First Resources’ latest earnings update: For the latest quarter ended 30 September 2018, revenue was up by 24.7% year-on-year to US$171.4 million. Operating profit was up by 12.9% year-on-year to US$59.9 million, driven mainly by higher sales. Net profit attributable to owners improved 22.2% year-on-year to US$39.0 million. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) for the quarter improved by 10.5% year-on-year to US$76.4 million. Gross

In an earlier article, I shared four reasons why Bumitama Agri Ltd  (SGX: P8Z) looks like a good investment opportunity at the moment after seeing its share price fall hard from its 2014 peak of S$1.23. For perspective, Bumitama Agri’s share price is currently S$0.65. But, every investment contains risks, and Bumitama Agri is no exception. So, in this article, I want to share three important risks that investors should pay attention to. The business As a quick introduction, Bumitama Agri is a palm oil producer. The company has over 180,000 hectares of plantation land located in three provinces in Indonesia, namely, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Riau. Bumitama Agri’s primary business focus is on growing and harvesting palm oil fruits, processing them to obtain palm

According to DBS, statistically, October has a higher tendency to be positive whenever the STI declines in the months of August and September. So far, the current valuation of Singapore’s market is also very reasonable with the STI hovering around 3200 region. As such, there should be adequate cushion against the possibility of earnings cuts in the upcoming results season. To ride out the month of October, DBS recommends three investment strategies. Investors Takeaway: 3 Investment Strategies To Ride On October’s Momentum Palm Oil Stocks Enter Seasonal ‘Sweet Spot’ Historically, the price of crude palm oil (CPO) tend to peak in the month of March. It then bottoms out before mid-October followed by 2-3 months of price recovery. The October-December seasonal rise coincides with

The market appears to like oil palm producer First Resources Ltd’s (SGX: EB5) latest earnings update, released on 13 August 2018. Since then, First Resources’ share price has increased by 2.6% while the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) – Singapore’s stock market benchmark – has fallen by 0.8%. Let’s look at both the negatives as well as positives found in First Resources’ 2018 second quarter results. The positives Firstly, First Resources’ revenue showed strong growth of 34.5% year-on-year to US$181.0 million. This ultimately led to a 55.2% jump in net profit to US$35.9 million. Secondly, operational metrics for First Resources came in stronger in the reporting quarter, with fresh fruit bunches (FFB) harvested up 28.7% year-on-year to 789,588 tonnes, and the crude palm o

Major Singapore plantations, namely Wilmar International, First Resources and Bumitama Agri posted stronger than expected results for 2Q18. The main attributes for the stronger results were the higher downstream margins and higher external fruit intake. This is in contrast with their peers which experienced weaker downstream margins. The strong performance seen in 2Q18 is expected to continue into 3Q18 as the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) yield begins to improve. Companies with downstream exposure are expected to perform better on the back of higher utilisation rate, better pricing power for refiners and higher biodiesel sales volume. Bumitama Agri Bumitama Agri (Bumitama) announced its 2Q18 results with its net profit came in within expectations at IDR388.06 billion. This was supported by str

First Resources Ltd (SGX: EB5) is an integrated palm oil producer, managing more than 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across the Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia. It organises its business into three segments: Crude Palm Oil, Palm Kernel, and Refinery and Processing. At the current price of S$1.58 (at the time of writing), First Resources’ shares are 16% down since January this year. This raises a question: Is First Resources cheap now? This question is important because if the firm’s shares are cheap, it might be a good opportunity for investors. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. However, we can still get some insights by comparing First Resources’ current valuations with the market’s valuation. The three valuation metrics I will foc