Dive Brief:
- ADM said adjusted third-quarter earnings fell 21 percent to 46 cents a share from 53 cents a year earlier. That's slightly below the 47 cents analysts had expected.
- The grain-trading giant blamed continuing supply problems following last year's historic drought in the United States for the poor performance.
- ADM also announced that its planned $2.8 billion acquisition of Australia's GrainCorp would be delayed until next year because of regulatory issues.
Dive Insight:
We're not seeing much evidence that the ABCD companies that dominate world agriculture shipments (ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus) are bouncing back strongly from the drought. Just days ago Bunge reported an 11 percent drop in sales and said it might sell its sugar unit in Brazil.