(Reuters) – Global grain trader Archer-Daniels-Midland beat market estimates for first-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by lower costs.
ADM said improved input and manufacturing costs, primarily related to lower energy costs, led to an increase of 15 cents per share in segment operating profit from a year earlier.
Oil and gas prices have declined compared to the peaks reached in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, adjusted operating profit at ADM’s Ag Services and Oilseeds division, which includes soybean crushing and trading businesses, fell to $864 million, compared with $1.21 billion a year earlier.
Crush margins have declined in South America amid a rise in processing capacity.
The Chicago-based company reported adjusted earnings of $1.46 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.36 per share.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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