Ingredients unit contributes to strong year profits for Cargill
an 18 per cent leap in quarterly profit for expanding, and
ambitious, US firm Cargill.
The supplier of sweetener, pectin and whey saw earnings for the fourth quarter rise from $195 million to $230 million for the fourth quarter ended May 31, 2005.
For the 2005 fiscal year, the company pulled in $1.53 billion in net earnings, on revenue of $71.1 billion.
The largest private company in the US whose business, in addition to ingredients, spans grain trading, meat processing and fertiliser production, said the results were "backed by strong performance across our diverse business and geographic operations".
Warren Staley, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer cited a new business model launched in 1999, that "called on the company to add proficiencies in supply chain management, food applications, and health and nutrition" as well as feeding its trading, processing and risk management businesses.
The year marked a string of acquisitions for Cargill's ingredients arm. The firm has cleared a deal to buy Nestlé Brazil's whey production facilities in São Paulo; to purchase German industrial chocolate facility Schierstedter Schokoladefabrik; and agreed to buy a sunflower seed crushing facility in Ukraine.
More recently, 124,000 people strong Cargill entered the pectin market, purchasing Citrico, a top five global supplier of pectin extracted and blended from citrus peel.
