Cargill Earnings Fall 28% After Power-Trading Loss

Cargill Inc. on Tuesday said its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 28%, as a power-trading loss weighed on the commodities giant's results.

An "unprecedented price spike" in U.S. power markets in January led to a trading loss that was reported in February to be about $100 million, though Cargill refuted that figure. The company on Tuesday said part of the power-trading loss has since been recovered.

Cargill, whose businesses include grain trading and processing, meatpacking, and salt mining, reported net earnings of $319 million for the quarter ended Feb. 28, down 28% from a year earlier.

Revenue at Cargill, one of the world's largest privately held companies, was flat at $32 billion.

"External events affected our quarterly results, even as we saw operational improvements in key businesses," Cargill Chief Executive David MacLennan said.

The suburban Minneapolis company said its results also were pressured by China's rejection of "certain U.S. corn shipments' and severe winter weather, which snarled U.S. and Canadian logistics and slowed some agricultural sales.

The power-trading loss was reported in February by SparkSpread.com, an energy-market publication, which didn't cite a source for its information.

Write to Jacob Bunge at [e-mail]

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