ADM Profit Rises On Higher Ethanol, Sweetener Prices
Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, reported the smallest profit increase in 18 months, prompting the biggest drop in the company’s stock since last May.
Net income rose 4.3 percent to $362.9 million, or 56 cents a share in three months ended March 31, from $347.8 million, or 53 cents, in the third quarter a year earlier, the Decatur, Illinois-based company said today in a statement. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for profit of 61 cents. Revenue rose 25 percent to $11.4 billion.
Chief Executive Officer Patricia Woertz said profit from grain handling plunged 47 percent as frozen rivers in the central U.S. interfered with transportation. Higher costs for soybeans led to a 4.6 percent drop in oilseed-processing earnings. Before today, investors had pushed the shares up 20 percent this year.
“Agriculture services were much weaker than expected but a 7 percent sell-off in the stock appears way overdone,” Gene Pisasale, who helps manage $25 billion and follows ADM shares, said in an interview. Investors may be concerned about ethanol earnings, which fell 51 percent from the second to $125.2 million. “The concern right now is the trend of ethanol margins going into the second half of 2007,” he said.
Carry on reading: Shares Fall.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
