PETALING JAYA: The potential slow recovery of crops will make IJM Plantations Bhd ’s near-term fresh fruit bunches (FFB) growth prospects appear to be unexciting. With the crude palm oil (CPO) price upside being capped, Kenanga Research expected the upstream agri-business group’s near-term prospects to remain tepid stemming from the flat FFB growth guidance for financial year 2022 (FY22). In its latest report on IJM Plantations, the research unit said the planter’s production cost for FY22 should creep higher toward RM2,100 per tonne given the anticipated higher cost of fertiliser by 7%-10% year-on-year. “We estimate the core net profit (CNP) in the fourth quarter of FY21 of about RM28mil as the higher CPO price is negated by lower FFB output.