Singapore's Olam Group logs marginal rise in profit despite higher costs (updated)

Olam

14/08/2024 24:20

(Writes through with details from paragraph 2 onwards)
       Aug 14 (Reuters) - Singapore's Olam Group  OLAG.SI  on
Wednesday posted a slight increase in its first-half profit
attributable, as improved performance at its division focusing
on agricultural products and food ingredients was pressured by
higher financing expenses.
    Olam's strategic pivot from just commodity trading to
include value-added products, coupled with targeted investments
in production facilities, has helped profitability.
    The company, however, said its net finance costs "increased
sharply" primarily due to higher working capital needs, caused
by record-high prices for commodities such as cocoa and coffee,
together with rising benchmark interest rates.
    Olam, among the world's biggest agricultural commodity
traders, posted profit attributable of S$48.03 million ($36.45
million) for the six months ended June 30, compared with S$47.96
million a year ago.
    It declared an interim dividend of 3 Singapore cents same as
the year earlier.

 (Reporting by Roushni Nair and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
 ((Roushni.Nair@thomsonreuters.com;))