KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corporation third quarter ended Mar 31, 2014 net profit almost quadrupled to RM2.176bil from RM567.8mil a year ago due to the one-off net gain of RM1.834bil from the demerger of its property arm.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Thursday, the group said its revenue was up 0.86% to RM2.899bil from RM2.874bil a year ago due to better performance from the plantation business, which is moderated by slightly lower contribution from the resource-based manufacturing segment.

Its earnings per share stood at 34.20 sen from 8.89 sen a year ago.

The group has not declared any dividend for the period.

IOI said its plantation profit rose 47% to RM306.8mil due to higher crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel prices realized, as well as an increase in share of results of its associate in Indonesia.

Its resource-based manufacturing profit of RM205.2mil was 9% lower due to lower margin from the refinery and oleochemicals sub-segments as well as lower sales volume from the refinery subsegment.

It was offset by higher contribution from specialty oils and fats due to better margin as compared to same period last year, it said.

Moving forward, the group said CPO prices are likely to be well supported at the current level in the remaining year.

“In the medium term, the likely occurrence of El Nino during the second half of the year may give a further boost to CPO prices,” it said.

As for the resource-based manufacturing segment, IOI said both its specialty oils, fats and oleochemicals business are expected to perform reasonably well in the remaining financial quarter.

“Overall, the group’s performance is expected to be satisfactory for FY2014,” it said.