Wilmar International down 4% after Jakarta’s seizure of 11.8 trillion rupiah from Wilmar Group in graft case

[SINGAPORE] The shares of Wilmar International fell on Wednesday (Jun 18) morning after the 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 was the lowest level its share price had hit in more than five years.

As at the market close, the counter recovered somewhat to finish at S$2.93, still down by S$0.08 or 2.7 per cent, with some 19 million shares having been transacted.

This comes as the 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 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 acts of corruption.