4. PPB Group unfazed by lower CPO prices

Its associate firm provides resilient earnings PETALING JAYA: PPB Group Bhd, which is involved in sugar refining and wheat flour and animal feed milling, is less affected by the lower crude palm oil (CPO) price than other plantation companies. HwangDBS Vickers Research said although the falling CPO price had triggered a sell-off of plantation stocks, PPB’s share price had fallen a smaller quantum of 26% over the past 12 months against a decline of 42% for the Malaysia Plantations Index. “We believe the smaller decline is mainly due to PPB’s less cyclical earnings given the resilient contribution of its 18.3% associate company, Wilmar International Ltd, as well as stable contributions from sugar and flour,” it said in a report. Listed on the Singapore Exchange, Wilmar is Asia’s leading agri-business group with over 160... [read full story]