Yes, greenrookie: Golden Agri does look attractive ....
Excellent article by FT for yr enjoyment:
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Flayed by environmentalists, denounced by animal lovers and abandoned by western consumer products groups, Indonesiaâs Golden Agri-Resources ought to be on its knees. So why is the countryâs biggest palm oil producer by sales achieving soaring sales and record profits?
Singapore-listed Golden Agri looked in serious trouble in mid-2010 as western consumer products groups such as Nestlé, Unilever, Burger King and Kraft Foods stopped buying its palm oil products, worried by a clamorous boycott campaign by Greenpeace, the environmental activist group.
Greenpeace pulled no punches, producing a series of hard hitting reports on the group, which it refers to by the trade name Sinar Mas. The content is complex and disputed, but the argument is clear: Golden Agri destroys virgin forest, releases trapped carbon and threatens rare animal habitat.
Faced with this pressure, Nestlé and other western companies quickly bowed to Greenpeaceâs boycott demands. Just over a year later, though, Golden Agri looks more victorious than vanquished.
Six weeks ago, the group reported an increase of 166 per cent in net profit to $411m for the six months to June, compared with the equivalent period for the previous year. Revenue was up 127 per cent to just over $3bn. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 115 per cent to $561m, roughly double last yearâs equivalent, and nearly four times the 2009 level.
The conclusion seems to be that the Greenpeace campaign had little effect on Golden Agri, in spite of its success in pressuring western food manufacturers to stop buying. The truth, though, is more nuanced.
Golden Agri and other palm oil producers are benefiting from a historic run-up in prices that has changed the economics of the industry. With crude palm oil trading in Kuala Lumpur at about M$3,064 ($992) a tonne on Tuesday the plantation groups are making nearly M$2,000 a tonne more than their costs of production â an awfully big margin.
Full article by Financial Times at:
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/82d2d6e2-e33f-11e0-bb...0.html#axzz1cwBiayot