St. Paul — CHS Inc. reported record fiscal net income of $1.26 billion for 2012, the first time a U.S. agricultural cooperative has surpassed the $1 billion earnings mark. Net income of $1.26 billion for the year ending Aug. 31, 2012, increased 31 percent from the $961.4 million reported for fiscal 2011, which was also a record. Largely as a result of increased values for the energy, crop nutrients, grains, and other commodities that comprise the majority of the company’s business, CHS also set a new mark for revenues at $40.6 billion in fiscal 2012. That figure represents a 10 percent increase from the previous record of $36.9 billion, also set in fiscal 2011. Based on fiscal 2012 earnings, CHS expects to return a record nearly $600 million in cash to its owners during fiscal 2013. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 (June 1 – Aug. 31, 2012), CHS reported earnings of $360.9 million, compared with $206.5 million for the same period a year ago. Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 were $11.0 billion, compared with $10.6 billion for the final quarter of fiscal 2011. The company’s Ag segment earnings were led by record profitability for the CHS Country Operations unit. Earnings for Country Operations – which consists of local retail facilities, livestock nutrition, and sunflower processing – were largely due to strong local crop nutrients movement and solid grain volume during fiscal 2012. The overall CHS crop nutrients business also recorded strong performance driven by significant product movement in spring 2012. Wholesale crop nutrient earnings improved $8.1 million for the year, and Country Operations by $4.6 million. Wholesale crop nutrient sales for the year totaled $2.8 billion, up from $2.4 billion. Fertilizer prices were up 13 percent ($58 per ton), and volumes 2 percent.
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