WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Bunge Ltd.'s profit more than doubled in the third quarter due to strong global demand for grains and higher prices for fertilizer, the agriculture and food products company said Thursday.
Net income rose to $351 million, or $2.70 per share, from $169 million, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier. Sales rose 82 percent to $12.68 billion from $6.97 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of $1.78 per share on $9.47 billion in sales, on average.
'Recently, we have seen a temporary shift from food products to agribusiness,' Chief Executive Alberto Weisser said in a statement. 'Having an integrated business that stretches from farm to retail shelf enables Bunge to capture value at numerous points.'
Grain origination and oilseed processing margins rose in Bunge's agribusiness segment, and fertilizer margins rose though demand slowed, thanks to increased prices in international markets.
Slowed fertilizer demand, which Bunge had forecast, was 'somewhat surprising,' Morgan Stanley analyst Vincent Andrews said in a note Thursday. However, he added, 'to be clear this is not a big deal as pricing has substantially more leverage in the earnings model than volume.'
Bunge shares rose $8.95, or 8 percent, to $121 in premarket trading.
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