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Hier eine genauere Analyse mit Bezug auf die gestiegenen Mais-Preise, welche im Vorfeld ja zu entsprechender Skepsis bei ADM geführt hat und den Kurs zu Unrecht von 45,46 $ auf 31,32 $ geführt hat: (Quelle: www.nasdaq.com bzw. Wall Street Journal) 3rd UPDATE: Archer-Daniels-Midland's 2Q Earnings Rise 20% (Adds comments from analysts in the ninth, 12th and 13th paragraphs and updates stock price.) By Desiree J. Hanford Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.'s (ADM) fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 20%, as higher ethanol, starch and sweetener selling prices were partially offset by an increase in corn costs. The agricultural-processing company said Thursday before the markets opened that it earned $441.3 million, or 67 cents a share, during the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compares with $367.7 million, or 56 cents a share, in the year- year earlier period. Sales rose 18% to $10.98 billion from $9.3 billion. ADM easily beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, for the Decatur, Ill., company to earn $386.4 million, or 60 cents a share, on revenue of $9.52 billion. The company's "continued strong momentum" underscores its ability to "manage through challenging and changing market conditions," President and Chief Executive Patricia A. Woertz said during a conference call. "We remain very confident about our strategic direction, and we continue to make progress along that strategic path," she added. ADM's stock was recently trading up $3.43, or 10.7%, at $35.43 on composite volume of 13.6 million shares, twice the average daily volume. ADM's shares have been under pressure in recent weeks because of declining crude prices, but those prices have reversed course in the last week and crude oil futures hit a four-week high on Wednesday. Ethanol prices typically move in the same direction as crude oil and gasoline prices. With ethanol revenue under pressure and corn costs increasing, profit margins have been squeezed at ADM and other ethanol makers. All four of ADM's business segments posted improved operating profits compared with the year-earlier period. The "broad strength" over all the segments is something investors have been overlooking, Citigroup analyst David Driscoll said in a research note. Investors "had become overly bearish on ADM in recent months with the slide in petroleum prices and the increase in corn prices," he said. Corn processing, ADM's largest segment by dollars, had a 42% increase in operating profits to $335.5 million. Within corn processing, bioproducts operating profit rose 55% to $189.3 million and sweeteners and starches operating profit increased 28% to $146.2 million. The improvement in operating profits for corn processing came from improved margins of about $75 million, $33 million of which came from sweeteners and starches and $42 million from bioproducts, Chief Financial Officer Douglas Schmalz said. The margin improvement came from higher selling prices for each of the three, partially offset by higher corn costs, he said. Volumes were comparable with the year-earlier period, Schmalz added. Corn processing was the segment of most concern given recent corn prices, Merrill Lynch analyst Diane Geissler said in a research note. "Today's result underscores management's expertise in operating through difficult market conditions," she added. Current spot corn prices are "well above" those in the second fiscal quarter of last year, CFO Schmalz said during the call. ADM anticipates that its ethanol prices for the current fiscal quarter will be similar to those it got for its second-quarter shipments, he said. Although ADM doesn't know what size of the worldwide corn crop will be next year, current crop prices give farmers incentive to plant additional corn acres, Schmalz said. ADM is largest producer of corn-based ethanol in the U.S. The company has seven ethanol plants in the U.S. High corn prices affect ADM twice, in its ethanol business and its high- fructose-corn-syrup business. Corn for March delivery closed Wednesday at $4.04 a bushel, down 3/4 cents. Operating profit in ADM's oilseeds processing business rose 50% to $192 million, driven mainly by a $94 million improvement in margin, with volumes being up slightly from the year-earlier period, Schmalz said. As for current market conditions for oilseeds, crop availability looks good, with the U.S. having an "adequate" supply of soybeans and South America's crop appearing to be at a level that will meet ADM's needs, he said. Agricultural services had operating profit of $122.8 million, a 31% increase from the year-earlier period. The company cited improved earnings of global grain merchandising operations and better operating results of transportation operations as the reason for the increase. Operating profit in ADM's segment that includes food, feed, industrial and financial rose 78% to $116.7 million. In his State of the Union Address last week, President Bush called for reducing gasoline usage in the U.S. by 20% during the next decade. To do that, Bush proposed setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017, more than five times the previous target. Neither Citigroup's Driscoll nor Merrill Lynch's Geissler own shares of ADM. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch make a market in the stock, and both firms have done investment banking work for the company in the last 12 months. Merrill Lynch expects to receive or intends to seek that work from ADM within the next three months. -By Desiree J. Hanford, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4135; desiree.hanford@ dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires 02-01-071316ET Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Lohnt sich ein Investment in Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt noch? |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | ambodenstaendig (01.02.07 19:52:41) |
| Beitrag: | 34 von 186 (ID:27354206) |
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