Following the Oct 30 close, Wilmar International (Wilmar) reported the group achieved another strong set of results in its Q3FY20 (ended Sept 30), recording core net profit of US$501.4 million for the quarter (up from US$419.2 million in Q3FY19).

 

This was the highest third quarter core results since its listing.

 

The three consecutive quarters of sustained good performance resulted in a strong core net profit for its 9MFY20 (ended Sept 30) of US$1.14 billion, an increase of 34.4 per cent from US$846.4 million in 9MFY19.

 

The company then proceeded to buy back 20 million of its shares for a consideration of S$84,741,879 between Nov 2 and 3 at an average price of S$4.24 per share.

 

The lowest price and highest price paid by Wilmar over the two sessions were S$4.11 and S$4.31 respectively.

 

The 20 million shares represented 0.32 per cent of Wilmar' s issued shares (excluding treasury shares) as of the date of the current share buyback resolution.

 

Prior to this, Wilmar had not bought back its shares since Aug 12, 2016.

 

On Nov 4, HPRY Holdings Ltd, in which Wilmar chairman and CEO Kuok Khoon Hong maintains deemed interests, acquired two million Wilmar shares at an average price of S$4.28 per share.

 

The Nov 5 acquisition also saw HPRY Holdings Ltd acquire another 1,052,300 Wilmar shares at an average price of S$4.29 per share.

 

These two acquisitions increased Mr Kuok' s total interest in Wilmar from 12.62 per cent to 12.67 per cent.

 

Mr Kuok is overall in charge of the management of the group with particular focus on new business developments.

 

With extensive experience in the industry, he has been involved in the grains, edible oils and oilseeds businesses since 1973.

 

Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings Co (YKA) is now an 89.99 per cent subsidiary of Wilmar and officially listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange ChiNext Board and commenced trading on Oct 15, 2020.

 

The current valuation gap sees YKA maintaining a price-to-earnings ratio of 48x, compared to Wilmar' s price-to-earnings ratio of 15x.

 

The board of Wilmar also announced in its outlook on Oct 30 that a special dividend of approximately 15 per cent of the total YKA initial public offering proceeds will be declared in 2021, to commemorate the successful listing of YKA.

 

Details of the special dividend are scheduled to be disclosed in February 2021, with the release of Wilmar' s full year results for the year ending Dec 31, 2020.

 

Wilmar also noted with its Q3FY20 results that it expects its range of quality food products to benefit from the containment of the novel coronavirus in China and the rebounding of the China economy, coupled with greater emphasis by consumers on the importance of eating safer and healthier food.

 

The company also expects volume to pick up in those Asian countries where lockdown measures have eased and with the tight global vegetable oils market, expects palm prices to remain firm into early 2021 with processing margins for tropical oils and oilseed crushing margins expected to be satisfactory for the rest of the year.

FOR the five local trading sessions that spanned Oct 30 to Nov 5, the Straits Times Index (STI) rebounded 5.7 per cent, with the Nikkei 225 Index, Hang Seng Index and S& P/ASX 200 Index averaging a 4.0 per cent gain.

 

This has brought the STI' s decline in total return for the 2020 year to Nov 5 to 16.6 per cent.

 

Over the five sessions, the iEdge S-Reit Leaders Index also gained 5.7 per cent, bringing its decline in total return for the 2020 year to Nov 5 to 4.3 per cent.

 

Share buybacks

 

There were 13 primary-listed stocks conducting share buybacks over the five sessions with a total consideration of S$96 million, a significant increase from S$2.3 million for the preceding week.

 

Wilmar International led the tally, with STI constituents Sembcorp Industries, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) and Singapore Technologies Engineering, also conducting buybacks.

 

Director and substantial shareholder transactions

 

The five trading sessions saw 120 changes in director interests and substantial shareholdings, filed for close to 40 primary-listed stocks.

 

These included 14 company director acquisitions, with four disposals filed, and substantial shareholders filing 12 acquisitions and two disposals.

 

1. Do a search on  images.google.com for the  image  you  want  to find.
2. Right-click the  image.
3. Depending on what system you' re using, select the  image URL  by clicking one of these:
   Chrome: Copy  image  address.
   Safari: Copy  image  address.
   Internet Explorer: Properties Copy the  URL  address shown.