SD Guthrie Builds New Revenue Streams Beyond Palm Oil With Land and Solar

(Kuala Lumpur) — SD Guthrie Berhad, one of Malaysia’s largest plantation groups, is expanding its business beyond the traditional economics of palm oil as it develops industrial land and renewable energy projects alongside its plantation and downstream operations. The company, formerly known as Sime Darby Plantation, rebranded as SD Guthrie in 2024 and identified industrial park development and renewable energy as new business verticals. Its financial performance in 2024 and 2025, followed by a strong first half of 2026, provides a picture of how the group is combining its established plantation business with additional sources of earnings.

The group recorded revenue of RM19.831 billion in the financial year ended December 2024, compared with RM18.428 billion in 2023. Profit before interest and tax (PBIT) reached RM3.258 billion, while profit before tax stood at RM3.139 billion. Profit attributable to equity holders was RM2.164 billion, up from RM1.860 billion a year earlier, reflecting an improvement in the group’s financial performance during the period.

SD Guthrie’s net profit attributable to shareholders in 2024 represented an increase of approximately 16.3% from 2023. Earnings per share reached 31.3 sen, while return on shareholders’ equity stood at 11.7%. The company also declared a net dividend of 16.4 sen per share for the year, compared with 15 sen in 2023, according to its published financial highlights.

The group strengthened its performance in 2025, recording revenue of RM20.895 billion, an increase of approximately 5.4% from RM19.831 billion in 2024. PBIT rose to RM3.593 billion from RM3.258 billion, while profit before tax increased to RM3.530 billion from RM3.139 billion. The figures show that the company improved both revenue and operating earnings during the year.

Profit attributable to equity holders reached RM2.503 billion in 2025, an increase of approximately 15.7% from RM2.164 billion in 2024. SD Guthrie described the result as a record annual net profit. Earnings per share increased to 36.2 sen, and the group declared a final dividend of 10.35 sen per share for the 2025 financial year.

The plantation business remained the principal contributor to earnings in 2025. SD Guthrie reported that its Upstream segment accounted for 73% of the group’s total PBIT of RM3.6 billion. Fresh fruit bunch production increased by 1% year-on-year, while average realised crude palm oil prices rose by 4% to RM4,254 per metric tonne. Average realised palm kernel prices climbed by 33% to RM3,219 per metric tonne, supporting the segment’s contribution to group earnings.

The results also reflect the importance of commodity prices and agricultural productivity to SD Guthrie’s financial performance. Higher realised prices can support margins, but the plantation business remains exposed to movements in global palm oil markets, production volumes, labour availability and operating costs. The group’s strategy to develop other businesses therefore sits alongside, rather than replaces, its established plantation operations.

The company’s balance sheet and shareholder returns provide further context for the transformation. Total assets stood at RM31.743 billion at the end of 2025, compared with RM32.047 billion a year earlier, while shareholders’ equity was RM18.239 billion against RM18.486 billion. Its reported debt-to-equity ratio was 24.1% in both years, while the net dividend per share rose to 18.1 sen in 2025 from 16.4 sen in 2024.

Industrial Land and New Earnings Engines

The transformation gathered further momentum in the first half of 2026. For the six months ended 30 June, SD Guthrie reported revenue of RM9.633 billion, down 4% from RM9.986 billion in the corresponding period of 2025. Despite the lower revenue, PBIT increased by 31% to RM2.120 billion, while profit attributable to equity holders rose 44% to RM1.547 billion from RM1.072 billion.

The contrast between revenue and profit highlighted the contribution of the group’s business mix. In the second quarter of 2026, net profit attributable to shareholders reached RM987 million, compared with RM505 million a year earlier. The Industrial Development segment generated PBIT of RM529 million in the quarter, while SD Guthrie International, the downstream business, recorded PBIT of RM136 million, an increase of 8% year-on-year.

Industrial development offers SD Guthrie a way to unlock value from its extensive landbank, particularly parcels located near transport links, manufacturing clusters and other economic infrastructure. Rather than relying exclusively on recurring plantation output, the group can generate earnings through land sales and the development of industrial sites. The timing and scale of these contributions, however, depend on transactions, development progress and demand from potential occupiers.

SD Guthrie has said it plans to release more than 4,000 hectares of land for industrial development over five years. Its approach involves working with state agencies and industry partners to turn selected land parcels into industrial parks. The projects are intended to serve businesses requiring sites for manufacturing, logistics and other industrial activities, while creating additional commercial value from land previously associated with plantation operations.

The strategy gives the company exposure to industrial and infrastructure demand in Malaysia, including activity linked to manufacturing investment and supply-chain development. Its performance will depend on the location and readiness of individual sites, infrastructure provision, development costs and the ability to secure buyers or partners. Land monetisation can generate substantial earnings in particular reporting periods, but it may not produce the same earnings pattern as recurring sales of palm oil products.

Downstream operations are another part of the group’s diversification. SD Guthrie International processes and markets palm oil and related products across international markets, with earnings affected by sales volumes, product mix and processing margins. In the first quarter of 2026, the segment’s PBIT increased 43% year-on-year to RM109 million, supported by higher sales volumes, improved margins in Asia-Pacific and Europe, and stronger contributions from joint ventures.

Renewable energy is the group’s other identified growth vertical. SD Guthrie is using its land and existing industrial footprint to explore solar power and biogas projects, positioning energy as an additional business alongside plantations and downstream processing. The company has set an ambition to develop 1 gigawatt of solar capacity and increase the number of biogas plants across its mills to 46 by 2030.

The renewable energy programme builds on existing infrastructure. SD Guthrie reported that 19 biogas plants equipped for methane capture were operational across the group as of 2024. Its first large-scale solar project, a 15-megawatt plant at Bukit Selarong in Kedah, secured a quota under Malaysia’s Corporate Green Power Programme. The broader 1-gigawatt ambition will require further projects, capital investment and implementation over time.

The group’s most recent interim results also show that its traditional plantation operations remain financially significant even as the business portfolio expands. In the first half of 2026, average realised crude palm oil prices were RM4,209 per metric tonne, compared with RM4,339 in the corresponding period of 2025. Fresh fruit bunch production declined 2% to 4.20 million tonnes, while the oil extraction rate improved to 21.27% from 21.18%.

SD Guthrie’s financial disclosures for 2024 and 2025 show rising annual revenue and shareholder-attributable profit, while its first-half 2026 results record higher profit despite lower revenue. The company’s reported performance during the period included contributions from Upstream, Downstream and Industrial Development, with the latter generating RM529 million in PBIT in the second quarter of 2026. Its published strategic targets include releasing more than 4,000 hectares for industrial development over five years, pursuing a 1-gigawatt solar capacity ambition and expanding its biogas network to 46 mills by 2030.