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Astra Agro’s crude palm oil (CPO) production increased by 2.2 percent (qoq) or 3.7 percent (yoy), indicating that the company purchased more FFB from third parties.
“AALI looks quite difficult to boost FFB and CPO production due to the relatively old age of the plants with an average age of 15.1 years and 37.3 percent are in old age (>20 years) and only 37.9 percent of plants are in prime age. FFB yield continued to decline from 21.4 tons/ha in 2018 to 16 tons/ha by the end of this year,” Samuel Sekuritas analyst Yosua Zisokhi and Samuel Sekuritas Research Associate Daniel Widjaja wrote in their research. Despite AALI’s stable CPO production in Q3-2023, sales volume rose 24.8 percent (yoy) or increased 42.5 percent (qoq).
This condition helped increase revenue by 13.3 percent (yoy) or lifted 35.9 percent (qoq) amid the weakening average selling price (ASP) of the company’s CPO by 19.7 percent (yoy) or down 2.5 percent (qoq). “Operating profit was also boosted by 19.9 percent (yoy) with an OPM of 8.5 percent, and net profit rose 6.3 percent (yoy) with an NPM of 6.9 percent,” Yosua and Daniel said.
Cumulatively, AALI’s revenue fell 5.1 percent (yoy) in the January-September 2023 period, with the main cause being a 23.2 percent (yoy) decline in CPO ASP. However, the revenue was still inline with Samuel Sekuritas’ target and analyst consensus. Meanwhile, AALI’s net profit plummeted 34.2 percent (yoy) amid a 4.9 percent (yoy) increase in operating expenses (opex), resulting in a net profit margin (NPM) of 5.1 percent compared to 7.4 percent during the January-September 2023 period.
“AALI’s net profit achievement was below Samuel Sekuritas’ target and consensus, which were 48.5 percent of the 2023 target and 67.2 percent of the consensus target,” Yosua and Daniel explained.
Source: Sawitindonesia.com
