Dive Brief:
- Bunge Ltd. posted a loss of 12 cents a share for the first quarter, surprising analysts who had forecasted a profit of $1.40 a share.
- The loss was caused by Bunge's bet in the commodity futures market that grain prices would decline. But political unrest in the Ukraine wound up pushing global grain prices higher.
- Sales fell 9% to $13.5 billion, less than the $15.1 billion Wall Street expected.
Dive Insight:
It was a tough quarter for the so-called ABCD companies (Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus) that dominate the world of grain trading and processing.
Cargill started things off by announcing a 28% decline in earnings. Dreyfus announced the other day that its annual profit fell 34% and that its CEO had quit. ADM said its earnings fell 21% on supply problems related to the drought in much of the United States. Now Bunge says it was caught on the wrong side of the commodities markets.
Here's hoping that the weather, the markets, and the earnings reports are all a little less dramatic this quarter.