Cargill has reported financial results for the fiscal 2016 third quarter and first nine months ended Feb. 29, 2016. Adjusted operating earnings rose 13% to $476 million in the third quarter, compared with $421 million in the year-ago period.

Ingredients sweeten Cargill performance

Cargill has reported financial results for the fiscal 2016 third quarter and first nine months ended Feb. 29, 2016. Adjusted operating earnings rose 13% to $476 million in the third quarter, compared with $421 million in the year-ago period. Nine-month adjusted operating earnings decreased 2% to $1.66 billion.

Third-quarter revenues decreased 11% to $25.2 billion, reflecting lower commodity prices, the strength of the U.S. dollar against other currencies, and the sale of Cargill’s pork business in the second quarter. Revenues in the first nine months totalled $80 billion.

“With agriculture and energy markets as tough as we’ve seen in a long time, we’re pleased with the gain in earnings achieved this quarter,” said David MacLennan, Cargill’s chairman and chief executive officer. MacLennan said that prices and volatility in agricultural commodities remain low, as a series of big harvests have built global stocks. “Barring weather events, we don’t anticipate a near-term improvement in market conditions for agriculture. In these kinds of cycles, and we’ve been through them before, we focus on the levers under our control.”

MacLennan said Cargill is creating a more streamlined organization, competitive business portfolio and greater efficiency in how it runs plants, manages supply chains and markets products and services. “The work we’ve undertaken this year is positioning us to better serve the changing needs of our customers and fulfill our purpose to nourish the world’s people.”

The Food Ingredients & Applications segment was the largest contributor to adjusted operating earnings in the third quarter, with results up appreciably from a weak comparative period. The segment’s ongoing efforts to strengthen commercial and operational execution lifted earnings broadly across edible oils, malt, starches and sweeteners, and texturizers. A warm winter in North America kept road salt and de-icing products below the year-ago level, but salt for food applications posted strong results.