Cargill Profit Slows From Record After Meat Margins Collapse
- Earnings were $3.2 billion in first nine months of fiscal year
- Smaller cattle herds have hurt meatpacking margins in the US
Cattle feed on grain from a trough at a drought-affected farm in Argentina.
Photographer: Natalia Favre/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Cargill Inc., the agricultural giant that’s the largest private company in the US, saw profit slow in the nine months through February as volatility in global grain markets eased and domestic meatpacking margins collapsed.
After posting record net income of $6.7 billion in the year ended May 31, earnings over the following nine months were $3.2 billion, putting the company on course for a less profitable year, according to a presentation to bondholders seen by Bloomberg News. Revenue for the first nine months of the current fiscal year was $133.5 billion, compared with $165 billion for the preceding full year.