This is #2 in our "Twelve Stocks of Christmas 2025" Series. You can review the full set here.
The Pitch
M P Evans (LON:MPE) is a producer of Indonesian palm oil, managing 66,000 hectares and six palm-oil mills. The business has existed in various forms for 150 years, and for much of that period was involved in the rubber trade, but it began shifting to palm oil in the 1970s.
Palm oil has a wide variety of commercial applications and is said to be used in over 50% of supermarket products.
The company has benefited this year from prices of $869/tonne for crude palm oil, compared to an average of $823 in 2024. Earnings forecasts have been upgraded on multiple occasions this year (most recently in November) and the share price has been strong, but the stock still passes multiple screens for value.
The Big Picture
MP Evans is a very old name on the London stock market, having listed originally in 1981 (before it was fully focused on palm oil).
Family involvement: Chairman Peter Hadsley-Chaplin is not related to the Evans family but he is a 4% shareholder and the son of Edwin Hadsley-Chaplin. Edwin spent over 50 years with MP Evans, starting in 1947.
A dividend champion: this rich history means that MP Evans, while not being a family-run business, does carry an ethos of long-term stewardship on behalf of its shareholders. It has paid dividends every year for as long as I can find records, which is for multiple decades, and the general progression of these dividends has been very positive.
Going Deeper
Two core activities: the company has a twin model of production and harvesting. When it comes to harvesting, 3rd party crop is bought in to ensure full capacity utilisation at the company’s mills. Surplus amounts can also be sent to external mills where necessary.
Focusing on its own production: In 2025, this flexibility allowed the company to dramatically reduce the quantity of 3rd party crop bought in, which it says is “considerably more expensive than harvested crop, and is often of a much poorer quality”.
The combination of harvesting more of its own crop (up 8% at the interim…
