Dekeloil Public Limited AGM Statement (0182F)
October 24 2018 - 3:30AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMDKL
RNS Number : 0182F
Dekeloil Public Limited
24 October 2018
DekelOil Public Limited / Index: AIM / Epic: DKL / Sector: Food
Producers
24 October 2018
DekelOil Public Limited ('DekelOil' or 'the Company')
AGM Statement
DekelOil Public Limited, the West African focused agricultural
company, is holding its Annual General Meeting ('AGM') later today.
At the meeting, Youval Rasin, CEO, will make the following
statement:
"At last year's AGM, I spoke of DekelOil becoming a
multi-project West African focused agriculture company. This year I
am pleased to confirm DekelOil is now making significant progress
towards this goal after we secured an option to acquire 58%
ownership of an initial 10,000tpa cashew processing project at
Tiebissou, which is currently under development. In addition, we
have also broken ground on our second palm oil project in
Guitry.
"Becoming a multi-commodity company is a key objective for
DekelOil, as it not only enables us to scale up our revenues and
profitability, but also to significantly diversify our end markets.
Being an unrelated commodity to palm oil, international cashew
prices have their own set of market dynamics and drivers. With
global consumption forecast to continue growing for the foreseeable
future, the underlying market backdrop for cashews is supportive
and we are therefore keen to gain exposure to it. Furthermore,
while Cote d'Ivoire is one of the world's biggest producers of Raw
Cashew Nuts ('RCN'), the vast majority of its production is
exported for processing due to a lack of in-country capacity.
"As well as offering attractive margins, processing cashews will
also have the added benefit of smoothing out DekelOil's revenues
over the course of the year. Unlike fresh fruit bunches ('FFB')
delivered to our mill at Ayenouan for processing into crude palm
oil ('CPO'), cashews can be stored and processed throughout the
year, thereby avoiding revenues peaking and troughing in tandem
with high and low harvesting seasons, as is the case with
Ayenouan's revenue profile.
"The benefits of having diverse revenue streams were made all
too clear following the challenging trading conditions experienced
at Ayenouan over the last six months. Here, a poor high season
affected production of fresh fruit bunches across the region,
leading to increased competition to secure feedstock for processing
and downward pressure on gross margins, despite our efforts to
mitigate these through various initiatives. International palm oil
prices trading at cyclical lows compounded the adverse impact on
the mill's performance during the first half of the year which saw
a drop in CPO volumes produced to 22,242 tonnes in H1 2018 from
26,947 in H1 2017. With global palm oil prices falling to lows of
US$550 a tonne, total revenues at Ayenouan were EUR14.1m (H1 2017:
EUR19.6m) which generated EBITDA of EUR1.1m (H1 2017: EUR3.7m).
"The half year results followed a third consecutive year of
record financial results for DekelOil for the year ended 31
December 2017, including revenues of EUR30.2 million, EBITDA of
EUR4.5 million and profit after tax of EUR1.6 million. The quick
turnaround in performance serves to highlight how trading
conditions for agriculture companies can and do change over short
timeframes. This, of course, works both ways and we are hopeful
that, at least in terms of volumes of fresh fruit bunches produced
in the region around Ayenouan, conditions are already showing signs
of material improvement. Earlier this month, we announced a 15.3%
increase in year on year Q3 FFB yields to 24,938 tonnes compared to
21,626 tonnes in Q3 2017, which in turn fed through to a 13.5%
increase in CPO produced at the mill to 5,371 tonnes compared to
4,734 tonnes in Q3 2017. While there is some way to go to make up
the shortfall in FFB produced in H1 2018, we are encouraged that
the Q3 2018 performance is in line with the historic precedent of
poor harvests in Cote d'Ivoire being followed by strong rebounds in
production.
"Nevertheless, we remain keen to become a multi-commodity
producer as soon as possible. By securing an option to acquire a
controlling stake in a cashew project which is about to commence
the 12 month construction phase shortly, we have been able to
dramatically accelerate this process. Today, DekelOil has a
portfolio of three agriculture projects in Cote d'Ivoire: one of
which is already producing and two that are under development. This
time next year, as Tiebissou approaches first production, we expect
to be on the brink of having two producing projects."
** ENDS **
For further information please visit the Company's website or
contact:
DekelOil Public Limited
Youval Rasin
Shai Kol
Lincoln Moore +44 (0) 207 236 1177
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nomad and
Joint Broker)
David Foreman
Richard Salmond +44 (0) 207 894 7000
VSA Capital (Joint Broker)
Andrew Monk (Corporate Broking) +44 (0) 203 005
Andrew Raca (Corporate Finance) 5000
Optiva Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
Christian Dennis
Jeremy King +44 (0) 203 137 1903
St Brides Partners Ltd (Investor Relations)
Frank Buhagiar
Cosima Akerman +44 (0) 207 236 1177
Notes:
DekelOil Public Limited is a low-cost producer of palm oil in
West Africa, which it is focused on rapidly expanding including its
recent acquisition of an option to acquire a majority interest in a
cashew processing company. Feedstock for the mill comes from
several co-operatives and thousands of smallholders, however it
also has nearly 1,900 hectares of its own plantations. Furthermore,
it has a world-class nursery with a 1 million seedlings a year
capacity.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
AGMVZLBLVBFFFBD
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 24, 2018 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)
Dekel Agri-vision (LSE:DKL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Dekel Agri-vision (LSE:DKL)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024