Monday 17th May this year was a significant landmark, at least for me.
It was the day I gave up drinking spirits and the day that indoor gatherings of up to six people were allowed in England. This suits me perfectly. More than six, unlikely, and it can be lunch in the garden. The only inconvenience is the difficulties surrounding travelling abroad, on the other hand very few ‘planes fly overhead into Heathrow. Traffic levels in London are back to normal and congestion is made worse by lots of new cycle lanes.
In February last year, in Interesting Times, I predicted the virus would have petered out by the end of April (2020). A pessimistic newspaper story recently predicted it will be with us until April 2022, something I could not have imagined when I wrote Interesting Times. It will be challenging if new variants pop up in other counties, countries and on other continents. They will inevitably find their way to the British Isles and all the good work done by the vaccine programme may be undone; not a cheerful prospect for individuals, businesses and the NHS.
This grim prognostication is not reflected in stock markets: the FTSE 100 is above 7,000. MP Evans last week reported excellent progress in the first five months of this year. They started an ambitious programme of expansion in Indonesia in 2005 and are now, literally, reaping the fruits of their labour. Palm oil production is on a steep upward trajectory, their sixth mill should be operational in 2023 and their palm oil should be 100% RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) certified by the end of 2024.
“The RSPO is a non-governmental alliance that has developed a set of environmental and social criteria with which companies must comply in order to produce Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). Properly applied, the RSPO criteria can help to minimise the negative impact of palm oil cultivation on the environment and communities in palm oil-producing regions.
All M.P. Evans’ palm-oil estates, whether they have a mill or not, are run in accordance with the RSPO’s standards. This is the same for all ‘scheme smallholder’ areas attached to the Group’s projects.
The RSPO certifies palm-oil mills, not estates. Naturally, whilst we develop new land in strict accordance with RSPO standards, constructing a mill, and hence RSPO certification, comes at the end of the plantation development phase. Whilst the Group is growing there will always be a short time lag between first producing crop and achieving RSPO certification.
The Group’s policy is for all its mills to be certified by the RSPO with any new mills achieving RSPO certification within 18 months of commencing operation.” (MP Evans website)
For sixteen years MP Evans have promised jam tomorrow. Now it’s jam today with a higher dividend and the strong likelihood of further dividend hikes as their capital expenditure programme comes to an end. At the AGM, on behalf of all shareholders I was privileged, as a share holder of almost forty years, to propose a vote of thanks to the company’s workforce for their hard work and loyalty in a difficult year. As it was a virtual meeting many of the staff were able to join the meeting from Malaysia and Singapore making what in other years is a gesture, more meaningful.