KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): Oil palm planter Chin Teck Plantations Bhd saw its net profit for the fourth quarter ended Aug 31, 2015 (4QFY15) fall 5.5% to RM10.60 million, from RM11.22 million a year ago, due to declining average selling prices of fresh fruit bunches (FFB), crude palm oil (CPO), and palm kernel.

Earnings per share (EPS) thus fell to 11.6 sen, from 12.28 sen, according to its quarterly report to Bursa Malaysia.

Chin Teck also recorded a decrease in overall profit from its share of results of associates, largely due to overall losses suffered by its investment in oil palm plantations in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the group registered a revenue of RM25.15 million in 4QFY15, 15.65% lower than the RM29.81 million it had posted in the previous corresponding quarter.

In the cumulative 12-month period (FY15), Chin Teck recorded a net profit of RM30.47 million, down 15.4% from RM36.02 million in FY14, which resulted in its EPS falling to 33.35 sen, from 39.43 sen.

Its whole year revenue also declined 12.5% to RM104.01 million, from RM118.87 million last year.

For FY16, the group warned that its financial performance would be affected by the current volatility of the selling prices of FFB, CPO and palm kernel.

Chin Teck (fundamental: 1.5; valuation: 0.8) closed unchanged at RM8.30 today, with a market capitalisation of RM758.3 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)