Trading Update

RNS Number : 8571P

Anglo-Eastern Plantations PLC

23 February 2016

Anglo-Eastern Plantations Plc

("Anglo-Eastern" or "Company")

Trading Update

Anglo-Eastern Plantations Plc (AEP) which owns, operates and develops plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, amounting to some 128,600 hectares producing mainly palm oil and some rubber, of which approximately 65,100 hectares are planted, today announces a trading update ahead of the Company's preliminary results to 31 December 2015 which are expected to be announced in April 2016.

As announced during the course of 2015 the CPO CIF Rotterdam price has traded at levels below the prices seen in 2014, in common with most other commodities. The factors which impacted upon the Company's interim results, lower CPO prices and an increase in operating costs, continued into the second half of the year.

While production levels in 2015 have increased by 5% from 857,400mt in 2014 to 900,400mt, revenues for the year to December 2015 are expected to be approximately $196.5m (2014: $251.3m). In addition to higher operating costs the Company will report a small reduction in finance income and the impact of an adverse movement in exchange rates. As a result the Company anticipates that Profits before Tax, excluding any adjustment for the change in value of the Company's Biological Assets, will be approximately $46.9 million (2014: $85.0 million).

The Company has not yet quantified the value of the Biological Assets ("BA") adjustment to be applied to the Company's profits, as required under IAS 41, although the Company estimates that following the BA adjustment that the Company will report a pre-tax loss for the year. The Company emphasises that the BA adjustment is a non cash item and that the Consolidated Balance Sheet remains strong. Anglo Eastern reported net assets of $481.8 million at 30 June 2015, with cash of $110.9 million.

Enquiries: