{
  "id": 17006799,
  "title": "Wilmar slides more than 4% after weaker Q3 earnings; Indonesian police probe plantation fires",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/wilmar-slides-more-than-4-after-weaker-q3-earnings-indonesian-police",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-29T03:51:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wilmar-slides-more-4-after-weaker-q3-earnings-indonesian-police-probe-plantation-fires"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Shares of agribusiness group Wilmar International fell over 4% on Thursday (Oct 29), continuing a prolonged decline amid an Indonesian police investigation into plantation fires and weaker Q3 earnings. The stock closed at S$3.12, down 4.6% from its previous closing price of S$3.27. Trading volume reached 4.7 million shares, the lowest since Jan 21. This marked a further drop in Wilmar's share price, which has declined more than 20% over the past six months, with the stock trading at S$3.99 on April 8. On Wednesday, Wilmar informed the Singapore Exchange Regulation that Indonesian police were probing fires on about 28 hectares of plantation land belonging to its West Kalimantan subsidiaries. The company said it was cooperating fully with authorities. Internal investigations found the fires started outside concession boundaries or in non-planted areas, with no evidence linking them to Wilmar's land preparation activities. Estimated losses amounted to less than US$500,000. The regulatory body also asked Wilmar about its exposure to the fires and haze affecting Singapore, as well as any investigations by authorities in Singapore, Indonesia, or elsewhere. Wilmar's chairman and CEO, Kuok Khoon Hong, attended a meeting with Senior Minister K Shanmugam and other Singapore ministers on Wednesday regarding the haze. Shanmugam warned companies to cooperate fully with investigations, citing the authorities' power to establish responsibility for transboundary haze. Despite the fires and haze, Wilmar claimed no material operational, financial, legal, or regulatory impact. The company reported weaker underlying earnings for the Q3 ended Sep 30, with net profit at US$281 million, reversing a year-ago loss, but core net profit fell 25.2% year-on-year to US$267.3 million, attributed to higher raw material costs and lower soybean crushing margins.",
  "summary": "The company’s shares are down over 20% in six months",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Straits Times Business",
        "title": "Wilmar slides more than 4% after weaker Q3 earnings; Indonesian police probe plantation fires",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/wilmar-slides-more-than-4-after-weaker-q3-earnings-indonesian-police-17014922",
        "published": "2026-10-29T05:38:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}