Archer Daniels Midland Posts Upbeat Q1 Earnings, But Sales Miss Estimates

reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company's revenue misses analysts' expectations. The Chicago, Illinois-based company reported a quarterly profit of $493 million, or $0.77 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $267 million, or $0.40 per share. Adjusted EPS climbed to $0.77 from $0.55. Its revenue slipped to $17.51 billion from $20.7 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.71 per share on revenue of $20.58 billion. The average estimate among 6 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.72 per share and revenue of $20.281 billion. Adjusted segment operating profit rose 12 percent to $883 million. Agricultural Services operating profit climbed $52 million from the year-ago quarter to $194 million in the first quarter. Corn Processing operating profit slipped to $127 million from $251 million, while Oilseeds operating profit gained by $153 million to $483 million. During the first quarter, Archer Daniels Midland returned $0.7 billion to shareholders. "In the first quarter, the ADM team demonstrated their ability to leverage the strengths of our diversified business model," said ADM Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano. "The Oilseeds team capitalized on favorable market conditions and delivered outstanding results, with strong performances in each region. In Ag Services, our recently created global trade desk (GTD) platform drove higher merchandised volumes. Our new WILD Flavors and Specialty Ingredients business got off to a great start toward achieving the cost and revenue synergies we identified last year. Together, these performances helped deliver a good quarter overall, even as lower industry ethanol margins limited earnings in Corn, and the strong dollar limited U.S. grain exports. Archer Daniels Midland shares gained 1.08 percent to close at $50.32 yesterday.