KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): Johor Plantations Group Bhd (KL:JPG) reported a 52% year-on-year jump in net profit for the first quarter, driven by stronger crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK) prices.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2025 (1QFY2025) rose to RM75.93 million or 3.04 sen per share from RM49.98 million or 2.45 sen a year earlier.

The group declared a single-tier interim dividend of one sen per share for the quarter, payable on June 24. It is maintaining a minimum annual dividend payout of 50% of profit after tax and minority interest (Patami).

Quarterly revenue increased 15.4% to RM340.43 million from RM294.91 million, according to the oil palm planter’s stock exchange filing on Monday.

Johor Plantations managing director Mohd Faris Adli Shukery said the group is "encouraged by the strong start to the year" despite high stock levels, a slow demand recovery and short-term pressures on CPO prices amid global uncertainties.

The group’s CPO sales rose 9.2% y-o-y to RM279.3 million from RM255.8 million, as a 10.7% decline in volume was more than offset by a 22.2% increase in average CPO selling price to RM4,969 per metric tonne (MT).

Similarly, the average PK selling price also surged 65.2% year-on-year to RM3,898 per MT from RM2,360 per MT, driving a 57.5% increase in sales to RM59 million from RM37.5 million, despite a 4.6% decline in delivery volume.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the group’s net profit fell marginally by 5.7% from RM80.5 million, while revenue dropped 26.8% from RM464.9 million.

JPG shares lost one sen or 0.8% to settle at RM1.18 on Monday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM2.95 billion. Year to date, the counter has declined over 12.6%.