REUTERS — U.S. grain trader and processor Bunge Global recently reported a smaller-than-expected drop in second-quarter profit on improved oilseed processing margins and better results from its grains and oils merchandising business.
The earnings beat came as Bunge secured final regulatory approvals for its long-delayed deal to acquire grain handler Viterra, a transaction that officially closed at the start of the third quarter on July 2. It also completed the sale of its U.S. corn milling business.
Bunge maintained its 2025 earnings guidance of $7.75 per share, which would be its lowest in six years, but said it would update it to include the Viterra merger before reporting third-quarter results.
Read Also
Alberta crop diversification centres receive funding
$5.2 million of provincial funding pumped into crop diversity research centres
Sector profits erode
Bunge and other grain companies have seen profits erode in recent quarters due to ample global crop supplies and thinning margins.
Trade tensions stoked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs further disrupted trade flows, while biofuel policy uncertainty has dented demand for green energy feedstocks such as corn and soybean oil.
Net sales fall
Bunge posted an adjusted profit of $1.31 per share for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.14, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its core agribusiness segment, the largest by revenue and volume, saw adjusted profit fall 22 per cent, while net sales fell 5.1 per cent to $9.17 billion in the reported quarter from a year earlier.
Weak soybean prices amid bumper crops in Brazil and the United States, the top two producers and exporters, helped to expand oilseed processing margins in the second quarter, boosting Bunge’s full-year outlook for the agribusiness unit.
However, the company lowered its outlook for its refined and specialty oils segment after adjusted second-quarter profit dropped nearly 40 per cent.
