SD Guthrie warns of possible 10 per cent fall in Indonesian output
The company says El Nino-related dry weather is affecting Kalimantan more than Sumatra, with a potentially larger production decline in 2028.
SD Guthrie Bhd could see its Indonesian production fall by about 10 per cent in 2027 as prolonged dry conditions linked to El Nino affect plantations, according to Adrianudin Raj Azman, its chief executive officer for upstream Indonesia.
Speaking at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur on the company's third-quarter performance, Adrianudin said historical trends pointed to a potentially steeper decline in 2028. He said Kalimantan operations were more affected by the dry conditions than those in Sumatra.
However, he said it remained too early to assess the full effect. The company's palms now had a better age profile, with a relatively large area of young palms growing well that had yet to show an impact.
Adrianudin said rainfall had been good in November, but dry conditions were expected to return between February and March 2027. He warned that the production impact would be much greater if expected rainfall failed to materialise.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2026, SD Guthrie reported net profit of RM773 million, down 17.3 per cent from RM935 million a year earlier. The group cited smaller earnings contributions from industrial development and its midstream and downstream businesses. Revenue fell 0.3 per cent to RM5.39 billion from RM5.41 billion.
Over nine months, earnings rose to RM2.32 billion from RM2 billion, while revenue declined to RM15.03 billion from RM15.4 billion.
