Singapore-listed commodity cos set to grow-Barron's 10 Jan 2011 05:49

NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Three Singapore-listed commodities companies may challenge large long-established Western companies like Archer Daniels Midland Co <ADM.N>, according to Barron's.

Olam International Ltd <OLAM.SI>, Wilmar International Ltd <WLIL.SI> and Noble Group Ltd <NOBG.SI> may benefit from their Asia-based homes, where the world's largest populations are eager to secure a food supply, Barron's said.

The companies' cash flow has been growing by the upper teens, Barron's said. Noble and Olam, who moved into production from trading, have been buying plantations and other assets, Barron's said.

Olam is the world's largest supplier of cashews and sesame seeds, and is among the biggest sources of cocoa, rice, peanuts and cotton. It operates in 64 countries.

Noble is Asia's biggest supplier of raw materials. Only 22 percent of its revenue comes from agriculture, with the remainder coming from materials such as iron ore.

It has invested heavily in mines and processing.

Wilmar is Asia's leading agribusiness group and the world's largest integrated palm oil company. Demand is expected to grow because of demand for biofuels, which is part of the reason the company bought the sugar and renewable energy businesses from Australia's CSR <CSR.AX>. (Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Tim Dobbyn) ((Reuters Messaging: ilaina.jonas.reuters.com@reuters.net, +1 646 223 6193)) Keywor

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Goldman cuts Wilmar

March 3 (Reuters) - PLANTATIONS <WLIL.SI> <SIME.KL> <AALI.JK> <IFAR.SI> * Goldman cuts Wilmar to neutral, Sime still top sell, Astro Agro target price upped to 11,700 rupiah * Take profit on Wilmar, IFAR to Buy, Sime still our top Sell We downgrade Wilmar to Neutral (from Buy) as it has limited upside to our 12-month TP of S$3.15/share. * Sime Darby (on Conviction list) remains our top Sell, due to rich valuations and earnings risks for its nonplantations businesses. We upgrade our 12-month P/E-based TP on IFAR (to S$0.70) and rating (to Buy). We revise up our 12-month TP for AALI to Rp11,700/share based on 9X 2009E P/E (from 6X), but maintain Neutral. "Through-the-cycle" top picks: Wilmar and IFAR For longer-term investors, our top picks "through the cycle" are Wilmar (40% discount to DCF-driven SOTP) and IFAR (59% discount to DCF).

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Wilmar International 4Q Financial Result

SINGAPORE - Wilmar International Ltd, the world's largest listed palm oil firm, posted on Friday a 60 per cent rise in fourth quarter net profit due to higher palm oil prices and processing margins.

Wilmar, which owns oil palm plantations and runs milling, crushing, refining and processing plants in Indonesia and Malaysia, earned US$374 million in the October-December quarter, up from US$234 million a year ago.

The figure was higher than analysts' forecast that earnings will come in around US$260 million.

Wilmar's net profit for the full year was US$1.53 billion, beating the average estimate of US$1.42 billion by 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

'We are cautiously optimistic on our group's prospects,' the firm said in a statement.

'The relative resilience in the demand for staple food commodities together with the strengths of our balance sheet and integrated business model will position us to weather the uncertainties ahead.' -- REUTERS

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Wilmar International

SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Wilmar International <WLIL.SI>, the world's largest listed palm oil firm, is keen on acquiring assets and has about $1 billion available for mergers and acquisitions, its chief executive officer said on Friday.

Wilmar had about $2.5 billion in cash at the end of December and about $1 billion could be used for buying plantations, ships or food companies, CEO Kuok Khoon Hong told Reuters on the sidelines of the firm's results briefing.

"Dry bulk ships are very cheap now," he said.

Wilmar posted a higher-than-expected 60 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit earlier on Friday and said it was "cautiously optimistic" about prospects.

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