KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): Chin Teck Plantations Bhd’s (KL:CHINTEK) net profit for the first quarter edged up 4.7% from a year earlier, as better palm product prices and sales were weighed by higher costs.  

Net profit for the three months ended Nov 30, 2025 (1QFY2026) edged up to RM34.08 million from RM32.55 million previously, according to the plantation group’s bourse filing on Wednesday.

The average selling price and sales volume of palm kernel and crude palm oil were higher, but fresh fruit bunches (FFB) saw a decline in price and volume.

The gains from the more favourable prices and volumes were weighed down by a surge in other expenses, which swelled to RM7.69 million from RM401,000 previously, due to higher fair value loss on consumable biological assets and unrealised loss on foreign exchange.

The group had in December 2025 declared an eight sen first interim and 12 sen special dividend for the financial year ending Aug 31, 2026 (FY2026).
 
Operationally, unrest in villages surrounding its plantations in Indonesia’s Lampung province continues to disrupt routine harvesting of FFB, though harvesting activities and mill operations have resumed with 53.61% of total planted area now accessible, said Chin Teck.

Meanwhile, harvesting of mature fields at joint venture plantation in South Sumatra province remains delayed pending clearance by authorities following unrest in neighbouring villages.

Looking ahead, CPO is expected to remain firm this year, Chin Teck said, though it reiterated that FY2026 earnings will be lower than last financial year, which saw gains from the disposal of land by an associate company.

It noted that 40%-owned associate West Synergy Sdn Bhd’s contribution is expected to be lower, as the sale of large parcels of land is unlikely to recur. The associate completed a land sale to a unit of Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA) in FY2025.

Shares in Chin Teck ended unchanged at RM10.60, valuing the group at RM968.45 million.