WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Grain processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) on Tuesday reported an 85 percent increase in profit for the first quarter from last year, reflecting higher operating earnings at its oilseeds processing and agricultural services segments in addition to lower costs.
Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed their estimates.
ADM Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano said, 'The Oilseeds team capitalized on favorable market conditions and delivered outstanding results, with strong performances in each region. In Ag Services, our recently created global trade desk (GTD) platform drove higher merchandised volumes.'
Luciano added that lower industry ethanol margins limited earnings in Corn, while the strong dollar limited U.S. grain exports.
Oilseeds Processing operating profit for the quarter rose 58 percent from the year-ago period to $469 million, with record soybean crushing volumes in Europe and North America as well as improved grain origination in South America.
Agricultural Services operating profit grew 37 percent from the year-ago period to $194 million, as improved U.S. and global grain merchandising results were partially offset by limited U.S. export competitiveness.
Corn Processing operating profit declined 39 percent from last year to $113 million, on lower ethanol production volumes and weaker industry margins.
Wild Flavors and Specialty Ingredients earned $68 million in the first reporting period for this business unit.
For the first quarter, net earnings attributable to Archer Daniels Midland rose to $493 million or $0.77 per share from $267 million or $0.40 per share in the same quarter last year. The prior-year quarter's results include, among others, a LIFO charge of about $0.15 per share.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.77 per share, compared to $0.55 per share in the previous year. On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.71 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
However, revenues for the quarter declined 15 percent to $17.51 billion from $20.70 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts' revenue consensus was $20.58 billion for the quarter.
ADM closed Monday's trading at $50.32, up $0.54 or 1.08 percent on a volume of 3.79 million shares.
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