By Doug Cameron
Cargill Inc. on Thursday reported an 82% slide in fiscal
fourth-quarter profit, citing tough trading conditions in beef and
soybean processing and an economic and political environment that
the agribusiness group has said distorts the pricing of risk.
The largest privately held U.S. company by revenue said the
quarterly results fell short of its expectations, though a third of
its sprawling operations, ranging from grain and energy trading to
financial services and steelmaking, delivered record annual
earnings.
"We did not trade as well in this year's markets, which were
driven as much by the economic and political environment as by the
fundamentals," said Chief Executive Greg Page in a statement.
Earnings slid to $73 million in the quarter ended May 31 from
$404 million a year earlier, with revenue down 2% at $34 billion.
Full-year profit fell to $1.17 billion from the record $2.69
billion earned in fiscal 2011.
Cargill's global meatpacking, grain processing and food business
is viewed as an industry bellwether and, like rivals such as Archer
Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) and Bunge Ltd. (BG), it has suffered from
dislocated trading and processing conditions as a series of
droughts hit global crop supplies.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@dowjones.com
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