Wilmar International down 4% after Indonesian authorities seize 11.8 trillion rupiah from Wilmar Group in graft case

[SINGAPORE] Shares of Wilmar International fell on Wednesday (Jun 18) morning after Indonesian authorities seized 11.8 trillion rupiah (S$928 million) from its parent company Wilmar Group in a palm-oil graft case.

As at 9.08 am, the counter was trading at S$2.89, down S$0.12 or around 4 per cent from Tuesday’s closing price of S$3.01, with 4.9 million shares having changed hands. This is the lowest level its share price has hit in more than five years.

By 9.54 am, it had slightly recovered to S$2.91, still down by S$0.10 or 3.3 per cent from Tuesday’s closing price, with 9.5 million shares having changed hands.

This comes as Indonesian authorities probe Wilmar Group and two other palm-oil companies, which they accuse of paying bribes to obtain export permits between January and April of 2022.

Wilmar International is the Singapore-listed subsidiary of Wilmar Group.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson from the Indonesian Attorney-General’s Office said that the seizure was part of its drive to recover state losses stemming from the acts of corruption.