Olam reported a softer 4Q15 performance as expected; although revenue grew 11.7% to S$5448.4m, it reported a net loss of S$221.3m, hit by a large exceptional loss of S$296.1m; this mainly due to the loss of its equity investment in PureCircle Limited (S$192.6m) and the one-time cost on the buyback of higher cost debt (S$126.5m), but partially offset by gain on saleand-leaseback of Gabon Palm plantation (S$33.6m). Still, operational PATMI fell 16.2% to S$88.2m.

For 12M FY15, revenue slipped 3.6% to S$19052.6m, or 0.2% shy of our FY15 estimate, while reported PATMI came in at – S$64.3m; operational PATMI though climbed 20.1% to S$346.1m, or about 6.5% above our full-year forecast. Olam declared a final dividend of 3.5 S cents, bringing the full-year payout to 6 S cents, versus 7.5 S cents in FY14. We will have more after the analyst briefing later; for now, we keep our HOLD rating but place our S$1.86 FV under review.

Source: OCBC Research - 29 Feb 2016