Cargill Earnings Up 34% in Second-Quarter

16/01/07 Cargill has reported net earnings of $662 million in the 2007 second quarter ended 30th November, up 34 percent from $495 million in the same period a year ago. In the first six months, the company earned $1.16 billion, a 16 percent increase from $999 million a year ago. Those represent the strongest operating performances in company history.

“Cargill delivered outstanding results in the second quarter,” said Warren Staley, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer. “Similar to the first quarter, we experienced fast-changing markets in the second period, brought about by the interest in biofuels, investor flows into commodity futures and other markets offering diversification, and expansionary economies in many parts of the world. Our team did a good job working across the business and geographic breadth of Cargill to stay on top of the price volatility and bring the best ideas, products and services to those we serve in food, agriculture and risk management.”

The company’s second-quarter earnings were led by two segments: origination and processing, and risk management and financial. Both increased results significantly over the prior year’s second quarter. The food ingredients and applications segment posted a modest increase from a year ago, with the strongest results coming from North American-based business units. Though solid, agriculture services did not keep pace with last year’s strong performance.

Cargill continued to invest in its core businesses, especially in emerging markets.  In January, it announced plans to purchase LNB International Feed, a maker of animal nutrition premix products, with manufacturing operations in Poland, Romania and Suriname and sales offices in Holland and Russia.

Cargill also began construction of an animal nutrition facility at its processing complex in Efremov, Russia, south of Moscow, where it produces corn sweeteners and has invested in wheat-based sweeteners, malt and vegetable oil facilities that will be fully operational later this year. The company purchased a soybean crush facility in Yangjiang, China, in the southern province of Guangdong, and is completing construction of an edible oil refinery at the same site.  It also is building two corn sweetener facilities in Shanghai and near Beijing.  In the United States, Cargill acquired certain assets of Eagle Milling, a feed milling and products wholesaler in Casa Grande, Arizona.