Archer Daniels Midland Q4 Profit Dips, But Adj. EPS Beats Street - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) announced a decline in fourth-quarter 2013 net earnings attributable to the company to $374 million, or $0.56 per share, from $510 million, or $0.77 per share, a year before, reflecting the adverse impact of charges related to GrainCorp and to ADM's Brazilian sugar mill. Excluding specified items, segment operating profit stood at $1.0 billion, up 33 percent.

During the recent quarter, adjusted earnings per share amounted to $0.95, that excludes $0.25 per share in specified GrainCorp-related items, impairment charges of $0.11 per share, and other items totaling $0.03 per share. On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.85 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Quarterly net sales and other operating income came in at $24.14 billion, compared with $24.92 billion in the 2012 period. Nine analysts estimated revenues of $24.70 billion for the quarter.

Commenting on the future, the company said: "Looking ahead, we continue to see strong global demand for our products and large crop supplies. We expect continued good utilization of our North American network until South America's large harvest reaches global markets."