White Plains, N.Y.-Bunge Ltd. reported first-quarter net income of $289 million ($2.10 per diluted share) on sales of $12.5 billion, up from the year-ago $14 million ($.05 per share) on sales of $7.3 billion. Higher volumes and margins led to a strong performance from the fertilizer sector. The volumes increase was driven by product sales for soybean plantings, which historically are purchased in the second half of the year. Soybean farmers accelerated purchases because of favorable agricultural commodity prices and concerns about increasing crop input costs. Margins benefited from rising international prices. First-quarter fertilizer earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were $133 million on sales of $1.2 billion, up from the year-ago $36 million and $609 million, respectively. Fertilizer volumes were up 9 percent, to 2.67 million mt from the year-ago 2.45 million mt.
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