The company should be able to perform better this year, if palm oil and rubber prices remain buoyant, says executive director Datuk Lee Hau HianKUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) expects good results on prospects of continued buoyant commodity prices, said executive director Datuk Lee Hau Hian- His optimism is underpinned by the current global demand for vegetable oils and natural rubber surpassing supply- In the first 15 weeks of this year, crude palm oil prices have been averaging at around RM3,400 per tonne- Natural rubber latex is now trading at a all-time price range of above RM10 per kg- "We should be able to perform better this year, if palm oil and rubber prices remain buoyant," he told Business Times on the sidelines of Invest Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur yesterday-He then said the group's fresh fruit bunch output is expected to increase by up to 10 per cent this year to 3-5 million tonnes- Asked on the group's oleochemical business, he replied the plants in Malaysia had recently added 250,000 tonnes in annual capacity- "The new facilities should start commercial operation towards the end of the year," he said- Moving on to property development, Lee said the group plans to redevelop 405ha near Sg Buloh into a new township with gross development value at RM3-7 billion- It will be called Bandar Seri Coalfields and the shophouses and residentials will be built over 10 years- KLK's retailing arm, Crabtree & Evelyn, which had undergone restructuring two years ago, is growing from strength to strength- Crabtree & Evelyn gross profits improved by 13 per cent to US$17 million (RM51-51 million) and in the first quarter ended December 2010, thanks to strong year-end sales- Lee noted that stores in the US, which contributes to 21 per cent of Crabtree & Evelyn's gross profits are showing improvement- The best performing stores are in Asia Pacific and Australia as they contributed to almost half of the Crabtree & Evelyn's profits- "There will be more product launches this year- We also expect store growth prospects to be in Asia-"...
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