KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): SD Guthrie Bhd (KL:SDG) has emerged as the top-ranked company globally in the Zoological Society of London’s SPOTT palm oil assessment for 2025, scoring a 97.5% for its disclosure of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.

SD Guthrie is the world’s first palm-oil company with net-zero greenhouse-gas emission targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the company said in a statement. 

It operates 234 plantation estates and 11 refineries across Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, producing about 12% of the world’s certified sustainable palm oil.

The score places SD Guthrie ahead of 100 palm-oil producers, processors, and traders evaluated under SPOTT, short for the Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit. The platform benchmarks companies on more than 100 sector-specific ESG indicators. The plantation group rose from third place last year, when it scored 94.8%.

Its chief sustainability officer Rashyid Redza Anwarudin said the latest ranking reflects SD Guthrie’s progress in traceability and responsible sourcing efforts. 

“Achieving transparency across our global operations is no mean feat, and this reinforces our determination to set standards that catalyse positive change within the industry," Rashyid said.

Listed on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of RM36.9 billion as of Nov 3, SD Guthrie is a strategic company of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), with institutional investors including the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP).

SD Guthrie serves customers in more than 80 countries and works with over 46,000 smallholders in its supply chain, a number it aims to expand to 50,000 by 2035 under its Beyond Zero sustainability framework.