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Highlights
- Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) is aiming a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.
- For the first half of the year, Olam’s operational profit, without exceptional items, more than doubled to reach a record S$436.6 million.
Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) is aiming for a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) along with a concurrent secondary listing on Singapore Exchange (SGX), agri-food behemoth Olam International announced on Friday.
For the first half of the year, Olam International reported operational profit, without exceptional items, that more than doubled to reach a record S$436.6 million. The company’s revenue increased 33.7 per cent to S$22.83 billion, compared to S$17.08 billion last year, due to robust growth from OFI as well as Olam Global Agri (OGA). OGA has been studying prospects of ways to maximise its long-term growth plans, which would include an IPO and subsequent demerger in the first half of 2023 from the group, according to the company.
Listing Plans
The listing was in the restructuring plan proposed by the company last year and in that it said it would be dividing its diverse portfolio into two separate new operating businesses. OFI’s stable has edible nuts, cocoa, and coffee businesses, while Olam Global Agri included animal feed, rice and cotton, and edible oils, among others.
In February this year, the company announced that OFI would be going public by 2022. It has also recently announced that OFI was on track to have an IPO by the first half of 2022.
OFI’s revenue in the first half grew 12.6 per cent to S$6.8 billion, and OGA saw a 48.2 per cent increase to S$15.5 billion. The company announced 4 cent-interim dividend on each share in the half-year period. The dividend would be paid on 30 Aug. Based on the weighted average number of shares, earnings per share for the half year period ended 30 June 30 was 12.09 Singapore cents each share, which was an increase from 9.54 cents a year ago.
Olam’s executive director and CEO of OFI, A. Shekhar said that the primary listing on the LSE would give the company access to the large investor base in London. Its liquid capital markets would help the company to benefit from the research exposure it has throughout the food and beverage sector.
The company is at present listed on the Singapore market and has a market capitalisation of S$5.59 billion. It is managed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and has a 54 per cent stake in it.
Way forward,
The listing on the London markets would give the company an international edge and help it access more capital. The plan could come as a significant boost to its commodities business.
