LOL earnings at near record in 2008; 4Q has loss

News Briefs, Northern Plains

Arden Hills, Minn.-Land O’Lakes Inc. reported near-record earnings for the year ending Dec. 31, 2008; however, the global economic climate pulled the company into the loss column for the fourth quarter. For the year, LOL had net earnings of $159.6 million on sales of $12.04 billion, versus 2007’s record earnings of $160.9 million and sales of $8.92 billion. LOL reported a fourth-quarter loss of $33 million on sales of $2.67 billion, versus the year-ago net earnings of $25.7 million and $2.59 billion, respectively. “Despite a soft fourth quarter, we delivered strong overall results in 2008, with record sales, net earnings nearly matching 2007’s record level, and our highest-ever cash returned to members,” said LOL President and CEO Chris Policinski. He said LOL is in a solid position moving into 2009. “There is no doubt that there are challenges ahead. No matter what business you are in, you can expect a bumpy ride in 2009. At Land O’Lakes, we’re confident we have the financial foundation, resources, strategies and people in place to weather the storm and continue to generate value for member-owners and customers.” LOL reported record cash returned to members of $98 million. LOL said agronomy sales, primarily crop protection products, were $2.3 billion in 2008. LOL said year-ago comparisons are not meaningful since it didn’t take on the crop protection business of Agriliance LLC until September 2007. Still, it said wholesale crop protection sales were up significantly from year-ago levels. LOL said agronomy reported $112.5 million in pretax earnings in 2008, up from the year-ago $16.4 million. Fourth-quarter agronomy sales were an off-season $212 million, with a pretax loss of $27.8 million and a year-ago loss of $1.6 million. LOL said 2008 agronomy demand was up due to strong early-year commodity markets, the ability to recognize and take advantage of unique, cost-effective herbicide sourcing opportunities, and the strength of the WinField Solutions marketing alignment with seed.