Bunge Ltd., White Plains, N.Y., reported third-quarter Fertilizer segment EBIT of $21 million on net sales of $178 million, down from the year-ago $23 million and $153 million, respectively. The company said the slightly lower results were in line with year-ago levels. Adjusted EBIT was $22 million, versus the year-ago $23 million. Sales volumes were up at 512,000 mt from the year-ago 448,000 mt.
Nine-month Fertilizer EBIT was $28 million on net sales of $355 million, up from the year-ago $12 million and $300 million, respectively. Adjusted EBIT was $29 million, up from the year-ago $15 million. Sales volumes were 1.01 million, up from 874,000 mt.
Company-wide, Bunge reported a net loss attributable to Bunge common shareholders of $1.496 billion ($10.57 per diluted share) on net sales of $10.3 billion, although this included some $1.7 billion in charges related to portfolio initiatives, primarily the formation of a joint venture for the Brazilian Sugar & Bioenergy business. Year-ago income was $357 million ($2.44 per share) on sales of $11.4 billion. The company reported adjusted EBIT of a positive $304 million, down from the year-ago $573 million.
“We navigated uncertain and deteriorating market conditions well,” said Greg Heckman, Bunge CEO. “While we expect headwinds to continue, we are making progress on our key priorities. We have improved our operational execution, as well as our discipline around risk management. Our decision to combine our global and North American headquarters to St. Louis is an important step in the work underway to streamline our global business structure. We will continue to focus on the business drivers without our control as we execute our mission of delivering results and driving increased returns to shareholders.”
Heckman told analysts that core businesses performed ahead of expectations during the quarter. He added that he didn’t know if the company could see a more difficult environment than the one it has seen this past quarter, citing Asian swine fever, the on-again, off-again trade war, the late harvest in the U.S., and the Argentine elections. As for the later, he said based on history, there will be some capital controls that will be disruptive and impact not only farmers, but the crush industry as well. However, he said the good news is that Bunge has had decades of experience in Argentina and has a very experienced team in place that has seen this more than once.
The nine-month net loss attributable to Bunge common shareholders was $1.25 billion ($8.87 per share) on sales of $30.3 billion, versus the year-ago positive $307 million ($2.16 per share) and $34.2 billion. Adjusted EBIT was $840 million, up from $775 million.