Crop and production update

M. P. Evans Group PLC

20 July 2023

 

M. P. EVANS GROUP PLC

("THE GROUP")
2023 H1 crop and production

M.P. Evans Group PLC, a producer of sustainable Indonesian palm oil, is pleased to announce the following crop and production information for the six months ended 30 June 2023.

		H1 2023	Increase/  (decrease)	H1 2022
	Tonnes		%	Tonnes
Crop of fresh fruit bunches ("ffb")
Own crops	408,100		(5)	430,400
Scheme-smallholder crops	124,900		(1)	126,400
Independent crops purchased	188,100		26	148,900
	721,100		2	705,700
Production*
Crude palm oil ("CPO")	166,200		3	160,800
Palm kernels ("PK")	34,600		(1)	35,100

*- figures include production from the Group's crop sold to third-party mills.

The total crop of ffb processed by the Group in the first half of 2023 was 2% higher than that processed in the same period of 2022. In the early part of the year, as has been the case in previous years, the Group experienced some seasonality in the crop recorded from its majority-owned areas and its associated scheme smallholders, but compensated for this by purchasing more crop from independent suppliers to process in its own mills. The Group anticipates higher cropping levels as it moves into the second half of the year. Production of CPO was up on the same period last year, and the Group benefited from the opening of its mill at Musi Rawas in February 2023.

In the period to the end of June 2023, the Group realised an average CPO price at mill gate of US$755 per tonne compared with US$1,035 in the first half of 2022, a decrease of 27%. Prices for PK averaged US$410 per tonne (mill gate), lower than the US$830 per tonne in 2022. Sales prices for both CPO and PK were exceptionally high during the first half of 2022 as commodity markets responded to the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine.

Enquiries:

M.P. Evans Group PLC

Telephone: [phone]

Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, chairman
Matthew Coulson, chief executive
Luke Shaw, chief financial officer

Peel Hunt LLP (Nomad and joint broker)

Telephone: [phone]

Adrian Trimmings, Andrew Clark, Lalit Bose

finnCap (Joint broker)

Telephone: [phone]

Tim Redfern, Harriet Ward

Hudson Sandler

Telephone: [phone]

Charlie Jack, Amelia Craddock, Francis Kerrigan

 

END