Bunge Global topped Wall Street estimates for third-quarter adjusted profit on Wednesday with the closing of its acquisition of Viterra in July boosting volumes as oilseed processing margins improved, sending shares up 2.6 per cent.
Strong South American soybean exports boosted results in Bunge’s soybean processing and refining segment after bumper harvests in Argentina and Brazil and as top soy importer China shunned U.S. supplies due to trade tensions.
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The earnings beat comes as Bunge and its agribusiness peers have grappled with ample global crop supplies and slumping margins, and as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats upended global trade.
Trade, biofuels policy expected to drag on profits
Ongoing trade and biofuels policy uncertainty will be a drag on fourth-quarter earnings as farmers selling crops to Bunge and customers buying its products have been reluctant to book deals beyond the near term, company executives said, pressuring margins for Bunge.
“Policy decisions, including biofuels and trade, remain in flux as we look ahead to 2026,” CEO Greg Heckman said.
Bunge’s adjusted profit of $2.27 per share (C$3.21) for the quarter ended September 30 was its lowest third-quarter result since 2019, although it topped analysts’ average estimate of $2.09 per share, according to LSEG data.
The company reaffirmed its previous earnings guidance of between $7.30 and $7.60 per share for 2025, noting headwinds from policy uncertainty but adding that conditions were “developing favorably.”
Merger with Viterra bolstered profits
Rival grains trader Archer-Daniels-Midland lowered its 2025 outlook on Tuesday to a six-year low as trade and policy uncertainty sapped demand and eroded margins.
Bunge’s completed merger with Viterra bolstered its crop marketing and origination capacity and expanded its soy processing business in Argentina.
The company’s soybean processing and refining segment posted an adjusted quarterly profit of $478 million, a 67 per cent gain from the same quarter a year earlier, while softseed processing and refining unit profit more than doubled.
Profit in Bunge’s grain merchandising and milling division was up 56 per cent, as higher wheat milling and ocean freight earnings more than offset poor grain merchandising results.
