(Sharecast News) - Dekel Agri-Vision reported significant growth in some key metrics in its February production update for the Ayenouan palm oil project in Côte d'Ivoire on Monday.
The AIM-traded company reported an increase in fresh fruit bunches processed to 17,294 tonnes, up 83.6% year-on-year.
It said that surge translated into a substantial 70.2% increase in crude palm oil production, totalling 3,742 tonnes, while palm kernel oil production saw a notable uptick of 58.8% to 208 tonnes.
Crude palm oil sales for February amounted to 2,472 tonnes, reflecting a 17.6% increase compared to the prior year.
However, the average price per tonne of crude palm oil declined 22.7% to €759.
Similarly, palm kernel oil sales stood at 108 tonnes, whereas there were no sales recorded in February, with an average price per tonne of €770.
The palm oil operation's consistent growth trajectory continued into 2024, marking the 12th consecutive month of higher monthly crude palm oil production.
Despite the positive production and sales figures, the crude palm oil extraction rate for February was 21.6%, indicating a slight increase from January but remaining 7.3% lower than the same period last year.
Efforts to manage food prices locally had contributed to lower extraction rates, although healthy gross margins were maintained due to lower fresh fruit bunch purchase prices
"Crude palm oil production has started 2024 significantly ahead of the strong 2023 production year," said executive director Lincoln Moore.
"March is typically the start of the three-to-four month peak high season and should this production momentum continue, we are well positioned to exceed market crude palm oil production expectations for the first half of 2024."
In addition to the production update, Dekel Agri-Vision announced the issue of 670,000 ordinary shares to certain advisers in settlement of fees for services provided.
Application for the admission of those shares to the London Stock Exchange was underway, with an expected effective date of around 18 March.
Following admission, the company's issued share capital would comprise 560,074,153 ordinary shares.
At 1038 GMT, shares in Dekel Agri-Vision were up 4% at 1.3p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Dekel Agri (DKL)