Archer Daniels Midland Q1 Profit Falls

(RTTNews) - Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) Tuesday announced a fall in first quarter net income attributable to the company to $230 million from $493 million last year. Earnings per share declined to $0.39 from $0.77 last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $0.42 per share. The company attributed the decline to challenging market conditions continued in the quarter.

On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.45 per share. Analysts estimates usually exclude special items.

Revenue for the quarter declined to $14.38 billion from $17.506 billion in the prior year. Wall Street expected $17.02 billion.

Juan Luciano, chairman and CEO said, "Low U.S. export volumes and weak margins continued, and in the quarter, poor results from the global trade desk impacted results for Ag Services. Results for Corn improved compared to the first quarter one year ago, led by a strong performance in sweeteners and starches. For Oilseeds, global protein demand remained solid. However, first quarter results were impacted by weak global crush margins. WFSI results were in line with expectations."