ADM reported a drop in fiscal fourth-quarter profit even as the company’s sales were boosted by higher commodity prices.
ADM reported net income in the quarter ended June 30 of $372 million, or 58 cents a share, down from $955 million, or $1.47 a share, a year earlier. The profit picture was complicated by gains from asset sales last year, which added $616 million after taxes to year-earlier results. Excluding the effect of those gains, profits grew by about 10%.
Revenue jumped 78% to $21.78 billion, with 90% of the rise coming from higher commodity prices and the balance from increased volumes. The company insisted that global protein demand would continue to grow despite a recent slowdown among some of its core products.