U.S. agricultural trader Archer Daniels Midland Company’s net earnings of $192 million adjusted segment operating profit down 17 percent on the difficult operating environment, according to its third-quarter report.
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017. ADM reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit as its core businesses of selling and processing grains took a hit from a glut in the global grain market. Net profit attributable to ADM fell to $192 million, or 34 cents a share, in the latest quarter from $341 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the Chicago, Illinois-based company fell by 6.3 percent to $14.83 billion. “Our third quarter results were below our expectations, as the operating environment in our Ag Services and Oilseeds businesses were more challenging than anticipated,” said ADM Chairman and CEO Juan Luciano in a statement.
Profit in its agricultural services unit, ADM’s biggest, more than halved to $87 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, falling well below $142 million estimated by JPMorgan analysts. Its profit from oilseeds business fell by 18 percent to $119 million. A bumper grain and oilseeds harvest have squeezed profits for ADM and rivals Bunge Ltd, Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Co., collectively known as the ABCD quartet of global grain trading giants. ADM and its rivals have been investing in higher-margin businesses such as food ingredients and natural flavorings to make up for a slump in their core grain trading and processing operations.