PETALING JAYA: IJM Plantations Bhd (IJMP) is open to any form of partnerships for the growth of its 60,000ha estates to the region of 100,000ha in the mid-term.
"There are no potential candidates at hand. We’re not actively scouting but we're open to discussion as we seek to grow our business,” said executive director and chief financial officer Purushothaman Kumaran.
“Expansion could be in greenfield but considering the current scenario we think brownfield partnerships is a more likely option,” he told reporters after the company's shareholders meeting here today.
Purushothaman was responding to a recent newswire report quoting IJM Corp chief executive officer Datuk Soam Heng Choon stating the company would consider paring down its 56 per cent stake in IJMP through local or foreign partnerships that could contribute to a larger landbank.
“As we grow our company via greenfield or brownfield acquisitions, the expansion has to be synergistic to our current operations,” said managing director and chief executive officer Joseph Tek.
He then said the group is optimistic of doing better in the current year ending March 2018, as the group targets to harvest more fruits and palm oil prices continue to trade at current pricing of between RM2,600 and RM2,700 per tonne.
“We hope to be harvesting between 8 and 10 per cent more fruits to 840,000 tonnes in the current year,” Tek said.
“If prices were to go on trading at this level between RM2,600 and RM2,700 per tonne, we would see better performance,” Tek added.