ADM’s Q3 profit more than doubles on ‘robust’ crush margin, vegoil demand

Net earnings at global commodities producer and trader ADM more than doubled in the third quarter to $526 million compared with the equivalent period last year, as the company reaped the benefits of strong demand for agricultural products and robust crush margins, the company said on Tuesday.

The Agricultural Services & Oilseeds segment was the biggest contributor to the earnings increase, racking up a 42% rise in operating profit to $618 million.

“Crushing had substantially higher year-over-year results. [We delivered] stronger margins in a dynamic environment, which included strong demand for vegetable oil to support our existing food customers, as well as increasing production of renewable diesel,” ADM said.

The gains came despite weak performance in the company's agricultural services arm, particularly due to “lower export volumes caused by Hurricane Ida”.

The Carbohydrate Solutions segment, which includes ethanol production, reported a decline of 13%, “primarily due to higher input costs”.

The nutrition segment rose 20% from the previous year in operating profit to $176 million, with increases of 9% contributed from the human nutrition unit and 95% in animal nutrition.

ADM's total revenue in the third quarter of 2021 reached $20.34 billion, rising 34.4% from $15.13 billion in Q3 2020.

“Our teams… have put ADM on track for a strong fourth quarter culminating in a second consecutive year of record earnings per share,” chief executive Juan Luciano said in the statement.