LONDON (Alliance News) - Palm oil firm DekelOil PLC on Thursday halted dividend payments as it blamed a poor harvest in the Ivory Coast for a drop in revenue and a swing to an interim loss.
The company has suspended its dividend, albeit temporarily, having returned a maiden payout to shareholders at the end of 2017.
DekelOil's revenue for the six months to June 30 fell to EUR14.1 million from EUR19.6 million a year prior, as crude palm oil volumes fell 17% and global prices dipped 18% year-on-year.
The company recorded a pretax loss of EUR504,000, after a EUR2.4 million profit for the same period a year ago.
DekelOil had warned in July its first half sales had fallen, blaming unseasonable harvests as well as the lower crude palm oil price.
DekelOil said it had posted "strong" financial results every year since joining the London Stock Exchange in 2014, but this run is now broken, and it also said it does not know how long it will be until palm oil prices recover.
Looking ahead, it hopes crop yields will stabilise going further into 2018, but results for the year will likewise suffer if the price of crude palm oil does not increase.
Shares were 2.4% lower on Thursday at 4.00 pence each.
Dekel Agri (DKL)