Olam Group records half-year profit growth despite coronavirus pandemic
The Olam Group has delivered a key upturn in its half-year results, with its latest figures revealing revenue rises of 7% to $17.1 billion, and profit growth of 44%, totalling $333 million for the period, reports Neill Barston.
As the company explained to Confectionery Production, the firm introduced major structural change in January of this year, splitting the business into distinct divisions – Olam Food Ingredients (OFI), which including its cocoa, nuts and edible spice ventures, Olam Global Agri (OGA), focusing on food, feed and fibre, and its parent company Olam International Limited (OIL).
This is the first set of financial results since the company reorganised its divisional operations, and has achieved its improved results despite the ongoing business challenges surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, as it moves forward with its strategic plan covering the period to 2024.
Olam Co-Founder and Group CEO, Sunny Verghese welcomed the performance figures, which he said had reflected the company’s resilience in addressing the present global crisis.
He said: “Following the pandemic, we are focused on delivering three key priorities in 2020: including successfully navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic and emerge stronger; executing our Strategic Plan (2019-24) and deliver our strategic and financial goals for 2020 and beyond; and iii) deliver on our Re-organisation Plan that we announced in January this year. I am pleased that we have done very well against all three objectives and are seeing growing benefits flow to both our financial performance and our competitive position. Our resilient performance amid coronavirus is a testament to the strength of our diversified portfolio, our differentiated strategy, our committed, dedicated teams, and the unique Olam spirit and culture.
“We have moved with speed and focused intent through the Covid-19 crisis to protect the safety of our people, maintain the continuity of our operations, keep our supply chains open, serve our customers’ needs reliably, maintain our financial strength and help the communities where we operate in. All of these actions have helped us to continue to transform and improve our Company and has helped us to live up to our Purpose of ‘Re-imagining Global Agriculture and Food Systems’.
“While the year ahead will remain challenging and uncertain with a range of outcomes that could impact demand and supply conditions across geographies, businesses and financial markets, we remain confident in the strength of our business model to emerge stronger from this crisis.”
Olam Group CFO, N Muthukumar added that the company continued to strengthen its balance sheet and has its maintained financial stability throughout the pandemic. He added that the business had concluded a series of new financing transactions, including an IFC/JICA loan, sustainability loan, which provided access to a diversified pool of capital to fund our operations and growth.
