Bumitama Agri said recent forest fires and haze in Indonesia caused no significant disruption to its plantation operations, according to a Friday filing with Singapore Exchange.
Shares of Bumitama Agri jumped 3.37% on the news.
The palm oil producer clarified that while some community-managed and unplanted areas within or adjoining its concessions were damaged, field observations indicate that several fire incidents started outside its directly managed boundaries before spreading into its land.
Addressing the ongoing investigations, Executive Chairman and CEO Lim Gunawan Hariyanto said preliminary findings have established no evidence linking the group's operations to the initiation of the fires or the resulting haze.
The company attributed the severe fire conditions to the "prolonged drought and exceptionally dry conditions associated with the strong El Niño event."
The clarification follows media coverage of a recent Greenpeace report that linked Bumitama Agri to the Indonesian plantation fires. The environmental group's report identified a Bumitama-affiliated entity, PT Damai Agro Sejahtera, among the top entities linked to the fires in the region.