Revenue for the quarter was S$5.804 billion, up 21.9% from S$4.761 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Sale volume was 4.461 million tonnes, up 50% from 2.965 million tonnes in the same period of last year. Olam attributed the uptick in sales largely to “opportunistic trading volumes in Grains” in the first quarter.

“We are pleased to have started the year with a strong set of results despite continued global uncertainty,” said Sunny Verghese, Olam’s co-founder and Group chief executive officer. “Our results for this quarter reflect continued progress in pursuing growth in our priority clusters, while constantly rebalancing our portfolio to ensure a good mix of gestating and contributing assets. We remain focused on continuing to deliver long-term, sustainable value for our shareholders.”

Olam’s Food Staples & Packaged Foods earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first quarter of 2017 was S$118.3 million, up from S$85.7 million in the first quarter of 2016. Revenue increased to S$1.975 billion from S$1.201 billion. The segment’s sales volumes for the first quarter was 3.146 million tonnes, up from 1.792 million tonnes in the same period as last year. Grains were a key growth driver in the segment as its origination and trading business, as well as its wheat milling operations in West Africa, continued to perform well, the company said.

Construction continued in Nigeria on the animal feed mills and hatchery as well as the wheat milling capacity expansion in Ghana.