MP Evans upped its dividend by 25% as soaring palm oil prices sent profits up by 53% in the first six months of 2022.
Production eased slightly during the period but that was more than compensated for by the rise in the price of mill-gate crude palm oil to an average of US$1,305 per tonne from US$724 a year earlier.
Prices of all oil commodities have jumped due to the Ukraine war, which for palm oil was exacerbated by a ban on exports in Indonesia for two months though this has now been lifted and prices have eased back again.
Interim profits rose to US$61.3mln (2021: US$40.1mln) on sales up by a third at US$170mln. Operating cash inflow in the first half more than doubled to US$69.7mln (2021: US$33mln).
The oil palm planter said the total cost of production increased to US$598 (2021: US$437), while the Indonesian ban also affected April and May, but now that this has been lifted the impact is expected to unwind in the second half of the year.
Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, the company's executive chairman, said it was an excellent set of results supported by the high CPO price environment.
Production from its own estates also rose 4% to 420,400 tonnes, he noted, and has continued to rise into the second half.
The lifting of the Indonesian export ban though should also mean stability returning to the market, said Hadsley-Chaplin.
MP Evans raised the interim dividend to 12.5p (2021: 10p).