Global agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) announced record fourth quarter results and said robust soyabean crushing margins and buoyant global demand for crops would help the company continue to deliver strong results this year, Reuters reported.
The solid quarterly earnings highlighted how global agribusiness companies held up operations despite rising energy costs and supply chain disruptions such as lower Black Sea grain exports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 26 January report said.
ADM announced a substantial year-on-year increase in operating profit in its core Ag Services and Oilseeds unit in the quarter ended 31 December, which more than offset lower earnings from ethanol operations and in its high-margin Nutrition segment, Reuters wrote.
“As we look forward to 2023, we expect another very strong year,” ADM chief executive Juan Luciano was quoted as saying.
“We still see tightness in supply and demand balances in key products and regions,” he added, citing reduced Ukrainian grain supplies and smaller harvests in drought-hit Argentina.
Adjusted operating profit in Ag Services and Oilseeds increased due to strong South American crop exports and good margins offsetting reduced US exports and as quarterly oilseed crushing profits more than doubled, the report said.
Low water levels on the Mississippi River at the end of last year restricted barge shipments of newly-harvested crops to US Gulf Coast terminals during the peak post-harvest export season, Reuters wrote.
ADM’s adjusted net fourth-quarter earnings increased to US$1.069bn, or US$1.93/share, from US$850M, or US$1.50/share the previous year.
