Latest news with #RM4
The Star
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Plantations hold steady, await catalyst
PETALING JAYA: Analysts are mostly neutral on the plantation sector, projecting the crude palm oil (CPO) prices to trade between RM3,800 and RM4,200 per tonne in the second half of this year (2H25). According to Kenanga Research, palm oil prices are expected to stay firm through a good 2025 season, underpinned by a global edible oil supply deficit this year, which may persist into 2026. Cost pressures should also stay manageable, thanks to firm selling prices, the research house said in a note to clients yesterday. While valuations appear to have bottomed out and are not excessive, Kenanga Research noted that 'there is no strong upside catalyst either.' It pointed out that edible oil demand remains visible and resilient, with a trend-line growth of 3% to 4% yearly. Meanwhile, supply is expected to grow by only 2% to 3% over 2025 to 2026. As a result, edible oil prices, including palm oil, will likely stay sufficiently firm. Many pure upstream players have also turned net cash, including Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd , Ta Ann Holdings Bhd , TSH Resources Bhd and United Malacca Bhd . 'Hence, decent to good dividend payouts can be expected, unless they embark on merger and acquisition (M&A) activities,' it added. The research house expects non-integrated planters to increasingly become dividend-yield plays. 'For larger integrated players, we expect more M&A or diversification into non-plantation businesses – hence, (they are) likely to stay net borrowers. 'Even so, as the balance sheets of integrated players such as IOI Corp Bhd , Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and SD Guthrie Bhd are backed by valuable landbank, their current gearing levels should not be a key concern to investors,' Kenanga Research pointed out. It added that firm CPO and strong palm kernel selling prices are expected to help absorb most of the cost upticks in 2025. As a result, upstream margins are expected to stay healthy. Altogether, 2025 margins should stay robust, thanks to upstream operations. Kenanga Research named IOI, with a target price of RM4.10 per share, as its big-cap pick, citing its sector-leading return on equity and declining gearing, which provides greater headroom for M&A. Among pure upstream players, Hap Seng Plantations, with a target price of RM2.40, still offers good, defensive upstream exposure, supported by over RM500mil in net cash. For the longer term, United Malacca – with a target price of RM6 – should see rising profits from newly maturing estates, while TSH – with a target price of RM1.30 – is expanding its planted area by 25% to 30% over the next three to five years. Genting Plantations Bhd with a target price of RM5.70, should also see a stronger 2Q25 contribution from its newly opened Jakarta Premium Outlet. Meanwhile, CGS International Research (CGSI Research) has lifted its CPO price forecast to RM4,200 per tonne for 2025. In a report, the research house noted that upstream players stand to benefit the most from high CPO prices. 'Our earnings sensitivity analysis shows that Genting Plantations, SD Guthrie and Hap Seng Plantations deliver the strongest earnings uplift with every 5% rise in CPO price,' it noted. With the current CPO rally starting early June 2025 driven by macro and policy shocks, CGSI Research expects upstream-focused names to benefit more significantly. 'After factoring in our revised CPO price assumption, accounting for forward commitments and softer palm kernel prices, our earnings revisions suggest Hap Seng Plantations, SD Guthrie and Ta Ann are the biggest beneficiaries from higher CPO prices under our coverage,' the research house highlighted. CGSI Research also recommended investors seeking defensive plays to accumulate agribusiness companies with high dividend yields, such as Hap Seng Plantations and Ta Ann, citing more stable earnings compared to other sectors.
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Woman claims trial to sharing obscene images of husband's other wife
MELAKA: An investment agent pleaded not guilty to three charges, including distributing and possessing obscene images of her husband's other wife in March. Herni Sofini Omar, 53, entered the plea before magistrate Utman Abd Ghani after the charges were read and explained to her by the court interpreter. On the first charge, she is accused of insulting the modesty of a 45-year-old complainant by distributing obscene images via a letter. Herni is charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, upon conviction. For the second charge, she is accused of criminal intimidation against the same complainant via an anonymous letter at the same time, date and location. The charge was framed under Section 507 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to two years in addition to any punishment under Section 506 of the same Code. Both offences were allegedly committed at Jalan Meranti 3, Taman Sayang Selasih, on March 27 about 2pm. For the third charge, on June 6 about 3am, she was found in possession of obscene images belonging to the same complainant on her mobile phone at the Criminal Investigation Department office of the Melaka Tengah police headquarters. She was charged under Section 292 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of three years' jail, a fine, or both, upon conviction. Deputy public prosecutor Hanis Aliah Ahmad Kamarulnajuib proposed bail of RM24,000 for all charges with one surety. However, defence lawyer Baharudin Baharim appealed for a reduction, citing that his client is self-employed and supports four children, three of whom are still in school. He said the accused, who has been abandoned by her husband since the incident, poses no flight risk and has fully cooperated with police during the investigation. "My client was recently diagnosed with cancer and has undergone surgery. We request total bail to be set at RM4,000," he said. The court then granted Herni bail of RM5,000 with one surety and fixed Aug 6 for case mention and document submission.
Focus Malaysia
14 hours ago
- Business
- Focus Malaysia
Demand for edible oils remains resilient and predictable
THE top palm oil producer, Indonesia, suffered poor yields in calendar year 2024 (CY24) causing palm oil prices to trade above soyabean oil for over half the year during CY24. 'As harvest is recovering this year, palm oil prices have since reversed to trade at discount against soyabean oil from Apr CY25 onwards,' said Kenanga Research. Consequently, CY25 crude palm oil (CPO) prices should ease from RM4,212 per MT in CY24 to RM4,100 in CY25 and RM4,000 in CY26 but stay firm due to overall supply tightness in the international edible oil market. A CY25 supply deficit looks increasingly likely with tightness to spill over into CY26. Oilworld's latest edible oil supply growth forecast of 2% for CY26 concurs with Kenanga's earlier view that trend-line demand growth of 3%-4% a year looks set to outstrip supply not only in CY25 but into CY26 as well unless a bumper harvest eventually emerged. Hence, our expectation of firm to elevated edible oil prices over CY25-26. Once the fastest growing oil crop, palm oil output growth started to moderate from around CY19 onwards. This is in part, due to ESG concerns over de-forestation but Indonesia was also starting to run out of good suitable land for oil palm planting while Malaysian oil palm area actually started shrinking since CY20s. Whilst valuations appear to have bottomed out and are not excessive, there is no strong upside catalyst either. Therefore, our NEUTRAL call thus hinges on firm CPO prices. Approximately 70% of edible oil made it into our food chain with c.23% as bio-fuel. As such, edible oil demand is quite visible, resilient and with trend-line demand growth of 3%-4% yearly. Meanwhile, supply is expected to grow by only 2%-3% over CY25-26; hence, edible oil prices including that of palm oil will probably stay sufficiently firm. Overall, we expect non-integrated planters to become increasingly dividend-yield plays. For larger integrated players, we expect more M&A or diversification into non-plantation businesses – hence likely to stay net borrowers. Even so, as the balance sheet of integrated players such as IOI, KLK and SDG are backed by valuable land bank, their current gearings levels should not be a key concern to investors. Margins should stay healthy. Firm CPO and strong PK selling prices are expected to help absorb most of the cost upticks in CY25; hence, upstream margins are expected to stay healthy. Downstream margins which stayed disappointingly soft in 1QCY25 is likely to remain so for the next quarter or two. Altogether, CY25 margins should stay robust thanks to upstream operations. —July 2, 2025 Main image: Palm Oil Alliance
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
BMI maintains average annual CPO futures price at RM4,150 per tonne this year
KUALA LUMPUR: BMI, a Fitch Solutions unit, has maintained its view that the average annual price forecast for Bursa Malaysia-listed crude palm oil (CPO) futures contracts will trade at RM4,150 a tonne in 2025. In a note today, BMI said that as of the market's closure on June 27, front-month CPO contracts settled at RM3,986 per tonne, bringing the year-to-date average to RM4,360 per tonne. "Accordingly, we expect palm oil prices to trade between RM3,800 per tonne and RM4,000 per tonne for the remainder of 2025," it said. BMI said palm oil prices came under significant pressure throughout the second quarter (2Q), declining by 17.7 per cent in the quarter-to-date, driven by weaker global crude prices, improved Malaysian output and subdued demand. However, it said the market found some "support" in June following a brief rally, sparked by both geopolitical and policy developments. "Prices rose by around six per cent between June 12 and June 16, initially as global crude oil prices surged in the wake of the Israel-Iran conflict. "This rally was further reinforced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) announcement of sharply higher proposed biofuel blending targets for 2026 and 2027, with the 2026 target representing a 67.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase," it said. While these proposals primarily buoyed soya oil, the resulting strength in the broader edible oils complex also benefited palm oil prices, it added. Meanwhile, BMI expects Malaysian palm oil output to reach 19.5 million tonnes in the 2025/2026 season, representing a y-o-y increase of 0.5 per cent. "In our 1Q 2025 price forecast update, we highlighted that ongoing production challenges in Malaysia were providing support to palm oil prices, as data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board indicated a 5.9 per cent y-o-y reduction in crude palm oil output during 1Q 2025. "However, we also anticipated that Malaysian crude palm oil production would recover over the coming months," it said, adding this expectation has been validated as of the latest available monthly data (May), with cumulative output in April and May 2025 totalling 3.5 million tonnes, a y-o-y increase of 7.8 per cent. BMI said this recovery has helped alleviate some of the recent tightness in the global market, exerting downward pressure on prices.
The Star
17 hours ago
- The Star
Investment agent in the dock over lewd pics of hubby's second wife
MELAKA: An investment agent in a polygamous marriage has claimed trial to charges of distributing, threatening and possessing obscene images of her husband's second wife. Herni Sofini Omar, 53, entered a plea of not guilty after the three charges were read to her before Magistrate Uthman Abd Ghani in Ayer Keroh on Wednesday (July 2). She is charged with intending to insult the modesty of a 45-year-old woman by distributing obscene images via the post. The charge was framed under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment, or a fine, or both, upon conviction. The accused was also charged under Section 507 of the Penal Code for issuing a criminal threat to the same woman via a letter that concealed the identity of the sender. The offence carries a prison term of up to two years, in addition to any other punishment provided under Section 506 of the Penal Code, if convicted. All the offences were alleged to have been committed at about 2pm at a house on Jalan Meranti 3 in Taman Sayang Selasih here on March 27. The accused also faces a prison term of up to three years, a fine, or both, if convicted under Section 292 of the Penal Code for possessing obscene images of the same woman on her mobile phone. The offence was discovered at about 3am on June 2 at the criminal investigation officer's office in Melaka Tengah district police headquarters here. Deputy public prosecutor Hanis Aliah Ahmad Kamarulnajuib proposed bail of RM8,000 for each charge. Baharudin Baharim, representing the accused, appealed for bail of RM4,000 for all charges because his client had no fixed income, recently underwent surgery for cancer, and was abandoned by her husband over the case. The court set bail at RM5,000 for all charges and fixed Aug 6 for next mention of the case.
