Andrew J. Burke
Analyst · the mills in Brazil
Thank you, Alberto. Let's turn to Page 3 in the earnings highlights. Total segment EBIT in the quarter was $323 million and included a $63 million gain from the sale of certain legal claims in Brazil. Adjusted for this claim, total segment EBIT was $260 million versus $200 million in the prior year. Our Agribusiness EBIT was $175 million versus $197 million in the prior year. Despite the reduction in volumes caused by low crop availability due to the prior year's droughts, our volumes increased 3%. This growth primarily reflects strong origination volumes in Brazil and higher utilization of our Pacific Northwest terminal. Soybean processing results were above prior year in all regions. Sunseed processing results were below prior year due to weather-related supply shortages and slow farmer selling. Our grain merchandising results were below prior year due to weather-related crop shortages in the Northern Hemisphere and Argentina. Our Brazilian grains business performed well. Our Sugar & Bioenergy business produced an adjusted EBIT of $23 million versus a $33 million loss in the prior year based on a strong performance by our trading and merchandising business and a better-than-expected performance in our milling business. Merchandising and trading profits were driven by a combination of strong volumes, higher margins and good risk management results. Trading and merchandising volumes were 1.9 million tons, twice the prior year levels. During the first quarter, the milling business was in the inter-harvest period, which meant our mills did not start off until the last few weeks of the quarter and we sold product carried over from the prior year. The improvement in performance from the prior year results from lower inventory costs and higher ethanol prices. Our Food & Ingredients business had another strong quarter with adjusted EBITDA of $59 million versus $48 million in the prior year. Both edible oils and milling performed above prior year. Edible oils exceeded prior year primarily as a result of higher margins and volumes in Brazil. Prior year volumes were lower than normal due to an SAP implementation. Milling benefited from a stronger performance by our Brazilian business, which was also impacted by the SAP implementation in the prior year and the results of our weak milling business in Mexico. Our continuing Fertilizer business had an adjusted EBIT of $3 million versus a $12 million loss in the prior year. Our Argentine business and Moroccan joint venture both showed improved performance. Our net income available to common shareholders is $171 million versus $84 million in the prior year. Earnings per share from continuing operations on a fully diluted and adjusted basis is $1.15 per share versus $0.81 in the prior year. Let's turn to Page 4 in the cash flow statement. Funds from operation in the quarter were $296 million, primarily reflecting net income plus depreciation of $121 million. Cash provided from operations was $103 million versus cash used by operations in the prior of $302 million. Capital expenditures of $224 million were in line with the prior year and plan. Our liquidity position remains strong. At March 31, we had approximately $3 billion of borrowing capacity available under committed credit lines. Let's turn to Page 5 in the outlook. We remain confident about 2013. As a reminder, our results should be more oriented towards the second half of the year due to the seasonality of our businesses, particularly Sugar & Bioenergy. This is more the case this year as Agribusiness earnings in the Northern Hemisphere will be constrained by the crop available until harvest begins in the third quarter and commercialization in South America may be slower than historical trends. In Agribusiness, we still have large crops to be handled and processed in South America, and we are expecting large crops in the Northern Hemisphere. If the crops meet expectations, supplies will move from tight to more balanced and near-term demand will increase as the pipelines are restocked. South America will be the primary origin for exports through September. Additionally, our large Brazilian winter corn crop will provide opportunities for export business and support elevation margins. Oilseed processing margins continue to be good. With the new large -- with the large new crop, Northern Hemisphere volumes and margins should improve. Oilseed processing margins in China are currently good due to tight supplies. We expect this to continue through the second quarter and potentially longer if supplies are being stay in balance. Near-term demand may be lower due to food safety concerns, but we expect the demand impact to be temporary. Oilseed processing margins are above prior year. Please turn to Page 6. In Sugar & Bioenergy, positive signs are emerging. The new harvest has started and we expect to have enough cane to crush at full capacity. Importantly, both sugarcane yields per hectare and ATR, the sugar content in the cane, are higher than last year. This combination will result in a significant reduction on our unit costs. Also, recent policy decisions in Brazil have created a more positive environment for ethanol. The government has moved to increase gasoline prices, which has a follow-on affect to ethanol pricing and demand. They have increased the blend rate of anhydrous ethanol into gasoline from 20% to 25% and earlier this week announced the reduction of taxes on ethanol, which would also be supportive to the industry. Accordingly, we see ethanol profitability improving. Sugar prices have declined and are below our expectation for this year. If this persists, it may offset the improved economics of ethanol. We still expect to be solidly profitable in our Sugar & Bioenergy business this year and we continue on track to achieve our targeted $8 to $10 EBIT per ton goal. Food & Ingredients should continue to perform well. Our base businesses are solid. Our recent acquisitions are performing well and we have several new investments coming on stream later this year, including the Kandla refinery in India and the Decatur, Alabama refinery and packaging plant. We expect our continuing fertilizer operations to be profitable, and the sale of our Brazilian fertilizer business is on track with closing expected later this year. I will now turn it over to the operator for your questions.