Okomu Oil Palm Plc, a firm that develops oil palm plantation, mills palm oil, and processes palm kernel as well as develops rubber tree plantations, says it will complete the first of two 30ton/hour oil mills it is building by July 2021.
Completion of the mill had been delayed due to the pandemic. As personnel were locked down and ports ground to a halt.
The second 30t/hr oil mill has been fabricated in Malaysia and the first containers are scheduled to be in Nigeria around May 2021. The mill should, barring any delays, be commissioned in the first quarter of 2023, according to Okomu.
Okomu recorded strong earnings growth in 2020, with combined revenues totaling N23.4 billion, 24 percent higher than 2019’s consolidated revenues.
Earnings before tax (EBT) was 18 percent higher Year on Year and taxes were 57 percent lower, leading to consolidated net profit for 2020 of N7.38 billion, which is 34 percent higher than 2019’s level.
The year 2020 saw a 22 percent increase in Crude Palm Oil (CPO) prices year on year, while rubber prices increased by 9 percent YOY. CPO production for Okomu was nearly 8 percent higher than the same period in 2019, while rubber production was 1 percent higher.
At the end of 2020, total oil palm area was 19,060 hectares, out of which 1,883ha were immature plantings.
A total of 7,335ha of rubber was recorded at the end of 2020, consisting of 2,192 ha of immature area. Dry rubber production increased by 24 percent YOY, whilst rubber agricultural plantation costs were nearly 8 percent lower than those for 2019.
Okomu oil is set to pay a dividend of N7 per share to shareholders and its stock price has risen by 74 percent in the past year.