MP Evans looks to beef up palm oil operations

Mr Price said Indonesia and Malaysia were responsible for 85-87 per cent of global palm oil production, but that MP Evans was focused purely on the former given the lower cost of operating there and the geographic - and thus climatic - diversity the country's hundreds of islands offer.

The weather was an issue, though, due to "exceptional dry weather" playing havoc with crop yields, which were down 9 per cent on its own areas to 170,300 tonnes and down 15 per cent to 39,600 tonnes at its smallholder co-operative sites. Its Bangka plantation was particularly badly hit, with crop yields down almost a quarter to 24,100 tonnes. But a new mill was established at Bangka in May and its oil extraction rate of 23.7 per cent is not too far off Kalimantan project's 26 per cent, which is considered high.

While crop numbers fell, leading to a 42 per cent fall in gross profits, a foreign exchange gain of $1.3m (against a $4m loss in the respective 2015 period) thanks to the strengthening of the Indonesian rupiah against the dollar meant operating profits actually rose 13 per cent to nearly $5.1m.

The company continues to sell down land it owns in Malaysia. Its former rubber plantation was sold into a joint venture with two government entities. Once projects such as houses or commercial sites are complete, they are being sold off at "30-40 times the value of what we originally sold the land to the joint venture for", Mr Price said.

House broker Peel Hunt has reduced its pre-tax profit forecasts from $24m to $22m for the year to December 2016, leading to EPS of 29.7¢ per share, down from $31.6m and 48.9¢ in 2015.