MP Evans Group PLC (AIM:MPE) has reported a sharp rise in first-half profits, boosted by higher palm oil prices and a stronger contribution from its own plantations in Indonesia.
The London-listed group said operating profit increased 50% to $62.2 million in the six months to June, compared with $41.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 60% to 71.7p.
The board has declared an interim dividend of 18p per share, up from 15p last year.
The company, which produces certified sustainable palm oil, said the average price for crude palm oil at the mill gate was $868 per tonne, up 13% on the same period in 2024.
Palm kernel prices rose even more sharply, up 71% to $747 per tonne.
Although total crude palm oil output slipped 2% to 172,800 tonnes, the proportion from its own crop rose 8%, while purchases of third-party fruit were reduced.
That shift helped lower production costs on its own harvest to $446 per tonne, down from $458.
Sustainable production also increased, with 131,300 tonnes of crude palm oil certified as sustainable, 10% higher than last year and accounting for more than three-quarters of total output.
Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, chairman, said: “The group has continued to make excellent strategic progress in the first half of 2025. We are benefiting from the move to a greater proportion of production coming from our own harvest, and results have been further enhanced by the strong commodity-price environment.”
MPE ended June with a net cash position of $70.5 million, compared with net debt of $7.3 million a year earlier. It has also expanded its land bank, completing the $35.1 million acquisition of 3,000 planted hectares in East Kalimantan in July.
The acquisition, near its existing Bumi Mas estate, brings the total area there close to 12,000 hectares and is expected to add immediately to earnings.