Global agribusiness giant Bunge has announced higher year-on-year fourth quarter profits, AgriCensus reported.
Bunge reported an adjusted net income of US$336M for the fourth quarter, or US$2.21/share, up from US$231M or US$1.52/share in the previous year’s quarter, the 8 February report said.
In the core agribusiness unit, adjusted EBIT for the final quarter was US$592M, a drop of US$3M compared to the same quarter the previous year.
Adjusted EBIT in processing increased to US$461M from US$444M the previous year, driven by a combination of large crops and strong meal and oil demand in North America, although Europe was impacted by higher energy costs and lower volumes, AgriCensus wrote.
In refined and speciality oils, the quarter’s adjusted EBIT rose year-on-year to US$222M, compared to US$154M the previous year, due to strong food and renewable fuel demand with notable improvements in Europe, Asia and South America.
The 2023 outlook for Bunge’s core agribusiness unit was that full year results would be lower than the previous year with slightly higher results in processing more than offset by lower results in merchandising.
However, if strong demand and tight global commodity supplies continued throughout the year, this could boost the outlook, Bunge said on 8 February.
In refined and specialty oils, full-year results were expected to be modestly down from the record achieved in 2022.
“Over the course of the year, we made progress on executing our strategy to strengthen and expand our core business while positioning us to benefit over the long term from the growing demand for food, feed and renewable fuel,” Bunge CEO Greg Heckman said.
“Looking ahead to 2023, we expect the favourable market environment we experienced last year to continue.”
Bunge reported an adjusted net income of US$336M for the fourth quarter, which was up from US$231M or in the same quarter the previous year.
Full year results for 2022 were an adjusted net income of US$1.6bn, which was down compared to US$2.078bn the previous year.
