Badly hurt by higher tax charges. According to OSK, Olam 4Q profit fell by 48%. Hit by the jump in tax charges, Singapore commodities firm Olam?s 4QFY13 profits fell by 48% y-oy to SGD56.8m.

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Some progress in sight

Olam International Ltd.

• Strong Sell initiated on November 19, 2012 at inaugural Ira Sohn London conference.
• Olam sued MW in Singapore for defamation on November 21, 2012. On April 5, 2013, Olam voluntarily dismissed the suit. MW is seeking advice on its entitlement to recover legal expenses from Olam.
• MW released a 133-page report detailing our thesis on Olam. Among other items, the report detailed 79 unexplained revisions to Olam?s accounts over the years that total in absolute value S$2.7 billion. Olam has still not explained these issues.
• On November 30, 2012, MW made a bona fide offer to pay for Olam?s debt rating. The company has refused to accept the offer or otherwise obtain a debt rating.
• On November 28, 2012, Olam CEO Sunny Verghese told multiple media outlets that Olam would not return to the capital markets to raise money for at least five months. Five days later (Dec. 3, 2012), Olam announced that it was raising $712.5 million through a bond issue backstopped by Temasek. MW?s opinion is that this financing was an emergency bailout that was necessary to prevent Olam?s collapse, which could have had ripple effects across Singapore?s economy, especially its banks, which had lent billions to Olam.
• Michael Dee, a director of Temasek until 2010 and the former head of Morgan Stanley Asia, wrote in an Op-Ed in December in the Business Times of Singapore that Olam was at risk of failure if it did not raise equity. He also said Olam?s resistance to having its debt rated by an agency demonstrates ?lack of oversight by the Olam board to be fully committed to transparency, risk management and respect for Olam?s bondholders and lenders.? He praised MW for bringing to light important and systemic issues at the company.
• On April 4, Olam dropped its lawsuit against MW after consulting with shareholders.
• On April 25, Olam said it completed the annual strategy review that began immediately following the MW report. The company did what one can only describe as a complete 180 degree turn in strategy. It said it would slash capital spending by S$1 billion from fiscal 2014 to 2016 and sell assets to reduce debt. It also dropped its $1 billion earnings target for 2016, scrapped a sugar deal in Nigeria highlighted by MW and sold almond Orchards to generate cash.
• Mr. Verghase continues to refuse to answer questions about whether he pledged his shares in Olam for hundreds of millions in personal loans from outside banks.