PETALING JAYA: High crude palm oil (CPO) prices turned out to be a double-edged sword for United Plantations Bhd, after losses from its refinery business widened due to hedging losses caused by the soaring prices.

       In contrast, the bottom line of United Plantations’ upstream plantation business performed stronger in the first quarter ended March 31, on the back of higher average selling prices.

       United Plantations, which has a total cultivated land bank of 63,000ha, reported a 20% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in overall net profit to RM59.69mil in the January-March period.

       It recorded a net profit of RM74.83mil in the previous corresponding quarter.

       Revenue surged by 61% y-o-y to RM642.91mil in the first quarter ended March 31, from RM399.65mil a year earlier.

       United Plantations said the revenue of its upstream plantation segment increased by 38% y-o-y to RM284.6mil.

       This was mainly due to the 31% and 68% increase in CPO and palm kernel (PK) prices respectively in the first quarter.

       “However, the production of CPO in the current quarter was 0.6% lower, whereas the production of PK was 1.6% higher,” it said.