PUBLIC INVESTMENT BANK
PublicInvest Research Results Review
KDN PP17686/03/2013 (032117)
Friday, August 22, 2025
SARAWAK PLANTATION Another Solid Quarter
SARAWAK PLANTATION BERHAD
Another Solid Quarter
Neutral
DESCRIPTION
One of the Sarawak-based pioneer palm oil plantation companies with 2 palm oil mills in Niah and Mukah
12-month Target Price | RM2.86 |
Current Price | RM2.67 |
Expected Return | +7.1% |
Previous Target Price | RM2.86 |
Market | Main |
Sector | Plantation |
Bursa Code | 5135 |
Bloomberg Ticker | SPLB MK |
Shariah-compliant | Yes |
SHARE PRICE CHART
52 Week Range (RM) | 2.11-2.70 |
3-Month Average Vol (‘000) | 41.0 |
SHARE PRICE PERFORMANCE
1M | 3M | 6M | |
---|---|---|---|
Absolute Returns | 5.6 | 10.0 | 14.2 |
Relative Returns | -0.1 | 5.0 | 13.2 |
KEY STOCK DATA
Market Capitalisation (RMm) | 733.9 |
No. of Shares (m) | 279.0 |
MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS
% | |
---|---|
Ta Ann Holdings Bhd | 29.4 |
State Financial Secretary | 25.5 |
Datuk Wong Kuo Hea | 0.5 |
Excluding the gain on the fair value of biological assets amounting to RM13.1m and minority interests (RM0.6m), Sarawak Plantation reported 1HFY25 core earnings of RM39.8m, accounting for 50.4% and 50.3% of our and the street’s full-year expectations, respectively. The steady results were mainly boosted by an increase in CPO prices and FFB production. However, in view of the limited upside potential, we downgrade the stock to Neutral with an unchanged TP of RM2.86 based on 10x FY26 EPS. No dividend was declared for the quarter.
- 2QFY25 revenue (QoQ: -3.4%, YoY: -0.4%). Topline was marginally lower at RM130.9m, supported by a marginal increase in CPO prices and higher FFB production. Meanwhile, 2QFY25 FFB production climbed 5.3% YoY to 84,510mt (1HFY25: 110,927mt, YoY: -25.8%) while third-party purchase FFB retreated 22.8% to 56.798mt. 2QFY25 average CPO price rose from RM4,007/mt to RM4,039/mt (1HFY25: R4,368/mt, YoY: +10.5%%) while average palm kernel price jumped 41% YoY to RM3,175/mt (1HFY25: RM3,305/mt. YoY: +53.5%). 2QFY25 FFB yield improved from 3.81mt/ha to 4.32mt/ha while OER expanded from 19.64% to 19.87%.
- 2QFY25 core earnings were up 7% YoY. Excluding the gain on fair value of biological assets (RM9m) and minority interest (RM0.3m), the group’s core earnings increased from RM19m to RM20.3m, led by lower production costs. 2QFY25 all-in CPO production cost averaged at RM3,000/mt (including PK credit of RM680/mt) and 1HFY25 CPO production cost was around RM3,100/mt (PK credit: RM700/mt)
- Outlook. The weather has turned dry since April, resulting in lower FFB in the last 2 months due to failure in crop formation. Nevertheless, the production is expected to pick up this month before reaching the peak in Oct. Given the lower-than-expected FFB production for the 1H, management has reduced its full-year production growth by 5% to 380,000mt. Meanwhile, about 1,600ha was replanted in 1H and it is on track to complete the replanting target of 2,800ha for this year. Another 1,000ha was declared mature in July, bringing the harvestable area to 20,000ha while immature area stood at 8,500ha. The group recently managed to recovered 15ha of encumbered area, bringing the outstanding encumbered area to 2,000ha. On the fertiliser application, round 1 was fully completed while round 2 only achieved 60% while round 3 is expected to see a strong catch up. Fertiliser prices have seen an uptick across various components with Nitrate of Potassium (45% of total application) rising from RM1300 to RM1700/mt, compound (20% of total application) up from RM1,300 to RM1700, urea (15% of total application) up from RM1,700 to RM2,300/mt while phosphate prices remained steady. With the i) higher minimum wage, ii) introduction of EPF for foreign workers and, iii) new state labour levy of RM1,800, labour costs are projected to be higher by 3-5% and the impact on the group bottomline is less than 2%. Lastly, management plans to double the seed production at its nursery to cater for its in-house requirement and Ta Ann’s demand.
KEY FINANCIAL SUMMARY
FYE Dec (RM m) | 2023A | 2024A | 2025F | 2026F | 2027F | CAGR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | 570.6 | 551.4 | 549.9 | 551.5 | 554.5 | 0.2% |
Gross Profit | 133.0 | 150.0 | 151.2 | 152.8 | 154.2 | 0.9% |
Pre-tax Profit | 87.5 | 124.5 | 104.0 | 105.4 | 107.6 | -4.7% |
Core Net Profit | 69.2 | 74.9 | 79.0 | 80.1 | 81.8 | 3.0% |
EPS (Sen) | 24.7 | 26.8 | 28.2 | 28.6 | 29.2 | 3.0% |
P/E (x) | 10.8 | 10.0 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 9.1 | |
DPS (Sen) | 10.0 | 20.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | |
Dividend Yield (%) | 3.7 | 7.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
Source: Company, PublicInvest Research estimates
Table 1: Results Summary
FY Dec (RM’m) | 2Q25 | 2Q24 | 1Q25 | QoQ chg (%) | YoY chg (%) | FY25 | FY24 | YoY chg (%) | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | 130.9 | 131.4 | 135.5 | -3.4 | -0.4 | 266.5 | 258.7 | 3.0 | Led by an increase in FFB production and CPO prices |
Cost of sales | -93.5 | -97.3 | -97.5 | -4.1 | -3.9 | -191.0 | -199.7 | -4.4 | |
Gross profit | 37.4 | 34.1 | 38.0 | -1.6 | 9.7 | 75.5 | 59.0 | 28.0 | |
Other income | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -64.3 | 1.0 | 2.4 | -58.3 | |
Distribution expenses | -7.2 | -7.7 | -8.5 | -15.3 | -6.5 | -15.8 | -15.0 | 5.3 | |
Administrative expenses | -4.9 | -3.8 | -4.5 | 8.9 | 28.9 | -9.4 | -8.3 | 13.3 | |
Operating profit | 25.8 | 24.0 | 25.5 | 1.2 | 7.5 | 51.3 | 38.1 | 34.6 | |
Finance income | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 17.6 | 33.3 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 24.1 | |
Finance costs | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 | -0.3 | -0.1 | ||||
Change in fair value of biological assets & others | 9.0 | 8.9 | 4.0 | >100 | 1.1 | 13.1 | 19.9 | -34.2 | |
Pre-tax profit | 36.7 | 34.4 | 31.1 | 18.0 | 6.7 | 67.7 | 60.8 | 11.3 | |
Income tax | -9.5 | -8.5 | -8.1 | 17.3 | 11.8 | -17.6 | -15.6 | 12.8 | |
Net profit | 27.2 | 25.9 | 23.0 | 18.3 | 5.0 | 50.1 | 45.2 | 10.8 | |
Core profit | 20.3 | 19.0 | 17.2 | 18.0 | 6.8 | 39.8 | 30.0 | 32.7 | After stripping out change in fair value of biological assets |
Core EPS (sen) | 7.3 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 18.0 | 6.8 | 14.2 | 10.7 | 32.7 | |
DPS (sen) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | No dividend was declared for the quarter | |||
Gross Margin (%) | 28.6 | 26.0 | 28.0 | 28.3 | 22.8 | ||||
Pre-tax Margin (%) | 28.0 | 26.2 | 23.0 | 25.4 | 23.5 | ||||
Net Margin (%) | 20.8 | 19.7 | 17.0 | 18.8 | 17.5 | ||||
Effective tax rate (%) | 25.9 | 24.7 | 26.0 | 26.0 | 25.7 | ||||
Average CPO prices (RM/mt ex-mill) | 4,039 | 4,007 | 4,728 | -14.6 | 0.8 | 4,368 | 3,952 | 10.5 | |
Palm Kernel Price (RM/mt) | 3,175 | 2,253 | 3,451 | -8.0 | 40.9 | 3,305 | 2,156 | 53.3 | |
FFB production (mt) | 84,510 | 80,267 | 73,940 | 14.3 | 5.3 | 158,450 | 149,938 | 5.7 | |
CPO production (mt) | 24,495 | 26,962 | 22,106 | 10.8 | -9.1 | 46,601 | 53,566 | -13.0 | |
Palm kernel production (mt) | 5,311 | 5,911 | 4,796 | 10.7 | -10.2 | 10,107 | 11,695 | -13.6 |
Source: Company, PublicInvest Research
KEY FINANCIAL DATA
INCOME STATEMENT DATA
FYE Dec (RMm) | 2023A | 2024A | 2025F | 2026F | 2027F |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | 570.6 | 551.4 | 549.9 | 551.5 | 554.5 |
Gross Profit | 133.0 | 150.0 | 151.2 | 152.8 | 154.2 |
EBIT | 87.5 | 100.3 | 98.1 | 99.5 | 100.6 |
Net finance income/ (cost) | 4.3 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 7.1 |
Others | 0.0 | 18.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Pre-tax Profit | 87.5 | 124.5 | 104.0 | 105.4 | 107.6 |
Income Tax | -22.6 | -31.5 | -24.9 | -25.3 | -25.8 |
Effective Tax Rate (%) | 25.8 | 25.3 | 24.0 | 24.0 | 24.0 |
Core Net Profit | 69.2 | 74.9 | 79.0 | 80.1 | 81.8 |
Growth
2023A | 2024A | 2025F | 2026F | 2027F | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue (%) | -19.7 | -3.4 | -0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
Gross Profit (%) | -36.8 | 14.6 | -2.2 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
Core Net Profit (%) | -33.8 | 8.2 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
Source: Company, PublicInvest Research estimates
BALANCE SHEET DATA
FYE Dec (RMm) | 2023A | 2024A | 2025F | 2026F | 2027F |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fixed Assets | 261.8 | 260.0 | 296.7 | 314.7 | 331.5 |
Other Long-term Assets | 430.6 | 460.5 | 460.5 | 460.5 | 460.5 |
Cash At Bank | 114.6 | 104.7 | 104.8 | 124.8 | 147.9 |
Other Current Assets | 147.6 | 204.9 | 204.7 | 204.7 | 204.9 |
Total Assets | 954.6 | 1,030.1 | 1,066.6 | 1,104.8 | 1,144.8 |
ST Borrowings | 1.1 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
LT Borrowings | 8.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 |
Trade payables | 57.4 | 65.7 | 65.3 | 65.3 | 65.5 |
Other Liabilities | 145.5 | 140.1 | 140.1 | 140.1 | 140.1 |
Total Liabilities | 212.0 | 246.5 | 246.1 | 246.1 | 246.3 |
Shareholders’ Equity & Minority | 742.6 | 783.6 | 820.6 | 858.7 | 898.5 |
Total Equity and Liabilities | 954.6 | 1,030.1 | 1,066.6 | 1,104.8 | 1,144.8 |
Source: Company, PublicInvest Research estimates
PER SHARE DATA & RATIOS
FYE Dec (RMm) | 2023A | 2024A | 2025F | 2026F | 2027F |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book Value Per Share | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
NTA Per Share | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
EPS (Sen) | 24.7 | 26.8 | 28.2 | 28.6 | 29.2 |
DPS (Sen) | 10.0 | 20.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 |
Payout Ratio (%) | 40.5 | 74.8 | 53.2 | 52.5 | 51.3 |
ROA (%) | 6.8 | 9.0 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 7.1 |
ROE (%) | 8.7 | 11.9 | 9.6 | 9.3 | 9.1 |
Source: Company, PublicInvest Research estimates
Chong Hoe Leong
T 603 2268 3015
F 603 2268 3014
E chonghoeleong@publicinvestbank.com.my
Source: Company, PublicInvest Research estimates
RATING CLASSIFICATION
STOCKS
SECTOR
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