Anglo Eastern Plantations PLC email alerting service

Anglo Eastern Plantations PLC has published the following regulatory news announcement:

27 June  2022

Anglo-Eastern Plantations Plc

("AEP" or the "Company")

AGM Statement

The 37th Annual General Meeting of Anglo-Eastern Plantations Plc will be held at the the offices of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House, 6^th Floor, 4 Thomas More Square, London E1W 1YW at 11am today.

At the meeting, the Chairman will comment on current operational performance and development as well as the outlook for the remainder of  2022.

Operational and financial performance

Forthe first five months ended 31May2022, AEP's own production of fresh fruit bunches ("FFB") was 460,800mt, an overall decrease of 3% compared to the same period in 2021 (five months to May 2021: 477,300mt). The plantations in North Sumetera with younger palms performed reasonably well, while plantations with older palms in Bengkulu and Kalimantan experienced a drop in production. The lower production in Bengkulu was due to the reduction of matured areas as 1,355 hectares were replanted from 2021 to May 2022 while the lower production in Kalimantan was mainly due to seasonal variation as rainfalls in these areas were close to normal. The harvesting of crops in the KAP estate in Kalimantan was also adversely affected by the ban by the local authority on transporting of FFB on public roads for almost a month. This ban was due to the damage caused by transportation vehicles to the public roads in the area during bad weather in the early part of the year.

FFB bought in was 466,000mt, a decrease of 2% in comparison with the same period last year (five months to May 2021: 475,800mt). Three of AEP'smills reduced external crop purchases in May 2022 as their CPO tanks were close to peak storage capacities due to buyers' delay in taking deliveries. As a result, the six mills processed a lower volume of crops with the Crude Palm Oil ("CPO") production at 187,000mt, 4% lower than the corresponding period in 2021 (five months to May 2021: 194,400mt).

The CPO ex-Rotterdam price averaged $1,650/mt for the first five months to31 May 2022, 47% higher than the average price of $1,120/mt recordedin the first five months of 2021. The mills accordingly enjoyed a 54% higher average ex-mill price of $1,064/mt compared to $691/mt for the same period last year. The ex-mill price in Indonesia has, however, fallen by as much as 30% since 28 April 2022 due to the confusion and the uncertainty of the rules surrounding the export of palm products despite the export ban being lifted on 23 May 2022.

Development

AEP has plantations across Indonesia and Malaysia, amounting to some 128,000 hectares, of which approximately 75,117 hectares (including Plasma) are planted.The Group's planting for the first five months ended 31 May 2022 was 371 hectares (including Plasma) (five months to May 2021: 907 hectares). During the first 5 months, the higher rainfall in Central Kalimantan disrupted land clearance.

The construction work for the seventh mill in North Sumatera, after much delay due to the pandemic and new regulations imposed on the importation of machineries, is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022.

The site for the development of the second mill in Kalimantan has been selected and drawings will be finalised for submission to the local authorities for building permits and environmental impact assessment. Barring any unforeseen delay, earth works are expected to start before the year end.

Outlook

The CPO price ex-Rotterdam closed at $1,660/mt on 10 June 2022, representing an increase of 26% from the start of the year at $1,320/mt. We expect the ex-mill price in Indonesia to improve after the government issued guidelines and regulations on 14 June 2022 to accelerate the shipment of palm oil following the lifting of the export ban.However, we expect a pullback in the CPO price as crop production improves further in the second half of the year.

Note: The information communicated in this announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

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