030125 Cargill Earnings Up 25% In Q2January 16, 2003Minnetonka, MN - Cargill Inc. said that improved results from most of its food ingredient businesses helped the company boost earnings by 25% in the second quarter. Cargill earned $319 million in the fiscal quarter ended Nov. 30, up from $256 million in the same period a year earlier. Additional earnings of $2 million came from one-time items. For the first six months of fiscal 2003, Cargill earned $664 million from continuing operations, up 25% from $533 million a year earlier. Additional earnings of $256 million from nonrecurring items brought Cargill's net income for the first half to $920 million. The privately owned company did not release other quarterly performance figures, following its custom. "Cargill delivered solid operating earnings in the second quarter, an outgrowth of our multiyear strategy to focus on customers, innovation and performance," said Warren Staley, chairman and chief executive. Staley said Cargill's global grain, oilseeds, sugar and cotton businesses performed well, as did its animal nutrition and beef processing businesses. Cargill's financial businesses posted a steady first half, and its phosphate fertilizer and steel businesses both benefited as those industries began to recover from cyclic lows, Staley said. During the second quarter, Cargill completed several acquisitions, including Peter's Chocolate, Swiss animal nutrition company Provimi Kliba and Farmland Hydro, a phosphate fertilizer producer based in Florida. Cargill, one of the world's largest privately owned companies, processes, sells and distributes agricultural, food, financial and industrial products. The company has about 97,000 employees in 59 countries.
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