USA – Cargill reported 19% growth in adjusted operating earnings to US$1.02 billion for the fiscal 2020 second quarter ended November 30, 2019 supported by growth in the animal nutrition & protein, and industrial & financial services segments.
Cargill’s second-quarter revenues rose 4% to US$29.2 billion bringing its six-month revenues up 3% to US$58.2 billion. The company said that strong execution and ongoing transformation elevate company performance.
“We saw very good execution from our global teams throughout the quarter, as they focused on delivering what matters for our customers,” said Dave MacLennan, Cargill’s chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“Our ongoing transformation, as well as recent acquisitions and expanded capabilities, are all helping us continue to raise our performance.”
Adjusted operating earnings increased in two of Cargill’s four business segments: Animal Nutrition & Protein, and Industrial & Financial Services.
A decline was reported in Origination & Processing and Food Ingredients & Applications business.
The company noted that transformation efforts, recent acquisitions and capital investments all had positive impacts in businesses like animal nutrition and global poultry.
According to the company’s second quarter report, the agricultural trading business stayed well-positioned across commodities, while several global product lines of food ingredients saw softer results, including starches and sweeteners in Europe and Brazil, and edible oils in South America.
Cargill is also banking on innovation to drive growth and has began commercial-scale production of EverSweet stevia sweetener at its US$50 million fermentation facility in Blair, Nebraska together with joint venture partner Royal DSM.
The company maintains that innovation has significant growth potential because it’s well-suited for many kinds of food and beverage applications such as soft drinks, flavored waters and teas, smoothies, yogurt, confections and ice creams.
Investing sustainably
To that end, Cargill announced at the start of December that the company has adopted a Scope 3 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its global supply chains by 30% per ton of product by 2030.
The goal complements the company’s previously announced goal to reduce emissions from operations by 10% on an absolute basis by 2025.
Along with the target, the company reinforced its commitment to the Paris Climate Accord through the ‘We Are Still In coalition’ and pledged to the CEO climate statement.
To achieve the Scope 3 target, Cargill is focused on supply chain partnerships and solutions that benefit farmers, customers and the broader food system.
This includes accelerating progress through the BeefUp Sustainability initiative, efforts to help farmers sequester carbon by maintaining healthier soils, reductions in carbon for sustainable shipping among others.
