Agro Perspectiva

Cargill reports third-quarter fiscal 2010 earnings

14.04.2010 11:36 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — Cargill today reported $729 million in earnings from continuing operations in the fiscal 2010 third quarter ended Feb. 28. The company also realized a $169 million net gain from discontinued operations, which reflected the sale of the Brazilian poultry and pork business. That brought net earnings in the third quarter to $898 million, compared with $326 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding earnings from its majority investment in The Mosaic Company and from discontinued operations, Cargill’s results nearly doubled from last year’s third quarter, a period in which earnings were slowed considerably by the global recession. In the first nine months of fiscal 2010, Cargill earned $1.91 billion, compared with last year’s $3.01 billion. Excluding earnings from Mosaic and from discontinued operations, Cargill’s nine-month results were close to the year-ago level. «The growth in Cargill’s third-quarter earnings was broad based, with all five of our business segments posting improved results from a year ago,» said Greg Page, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer. «Because of the connections across our diverse portfolio of businesses, we were able to benefit from the faster pace of economic recovery occurring in emerging markets. In developed countries, where economic conditions are improving more slowly, the focus on supporting the supply chain management needs of our customers helped results, as did the attention paid internally to managing costs and running our facilities as efficiently as possible.» Among Cargill’s five segments, earnings in agriculture services were lifted by the late, large North American harvest. Origination and processing results jumped ahead of last year, as the company’s commodity trading and processing operations benefited from the pickup in economic activity. Food ingredients and applications results were improved from the recessionary conditions that negatively affected last year’s third quarter. Alongside the recovery in global financial markets, earnings rose in Cargill’s risk management and financial segment. Within the segment, energy trading results were not as strong as those afforded by last year’s extremely volatile markets. Industrial earnings were boosted by demand for Cargill’s deicing products as adverse winter weather buffeted parts of North America. The segment also realized an increase in earnings derived from Cargill’s investment in The Mosaic Company. Page said Cargill continues to invest in the profitable growth of the company. It opened a major expansion of its corn processing plant in Uberlândia, Brazil. The facility produces an array of corn starches, sweeteners and other corn-based products for food, industrial and pharmaceutical customers in Brazil and across Latin America. In Wuhan, China, Cargill and its joint venture partner began operating a second facility for producing arachidonic acid, an essential ingredient used in infant food products for infants’ brain and optic nerve development. Cargill began the startup of its new joint venture sugar refinery on the east coast of India near the port of Kakinada. In a separate three-way joint venture, the company started construction in Gramercy, La., on what is expected to become one of the largest and most efficient sugar refineries in the United States. The company completed the purchase of certain assets of East Chicago, Ind.-based Robinson Steel, as well as Robinson’s 50 percent interest in the Cargill Robinson joint venture formed in 2007. The acquisition increases Cargill’s presence in high quality, steel sheet and plate markets and complements its steel trading and distribution activities.