ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, US — Fluctuating supply and demand dynamics have presented Bunge Global SA with a challenging economic climate, and the St. Louis-based company is feeling the impact, both in its financials and stock price. 

In the third quarter ended Sept. 30, net income attributable to Bunge fell to $221 million, equal to $1.56 per share on the common stock, down 41% from $373 million, or $2.47 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $2.29, down 23% from $2.99 a year ago. The most recent quarterly results included an unfavorable mark-to-market timing difference of 16¢ per share and a negative impact of 57¢ per share primarily related to transaction costs associated with Bunge’s proposed merger with Viterra.

Net sales, meanwhile, fell 9.3% to $12.91 billion from $14.23 billion.

Following the release of results, Bunge’s share price fell to a 52-week low of $85.08 in mid-day trading on Oct. 30, down 3.2% from the previous day’s close of $87.84. The low point also represented a decline of 16% since the company’s share price reached $100.48 on Sept. 19.

Despite the sluggish third-quarter results, Gregory A. Heckman, chief executive officer, pointed to “great progress” on integration planning for the combination with Viterra and the completion of other strategic priorities during the during quarter, including closing the sale of Bunge’s interest in its non-core sugar and bio-energy joint venture in Brazil to its partner, BP.

In Bunge’s largest division, Agribusiness, adjusted segment EBIT for the quarter was $366 million, down 23% from $472 million in the year-ago quarter. Agribusiness volumes were 19.89 million tonnes compared with 18.85 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2023. Sales were $9.29 billion, down 7.9% from $10.08 billion in the third quarter a year ago.

“In Agribusiness, processing results of $291 million in the quarter were down from last year as higher results in South American and European soy crush were more than offset by lower results in North America, European soft seeds, and Asia,” John Neppl, chief financial officer, said during an Oct. 30 conference call with analysts. “In merchandising, higher results were driven by improved performance in our financial services, ocean freight and global oils businesses, more than offsetting lower results in global grains.”

Adjusted EBIT of the Refined and Specialty Oils division was $182 million, down 21% from $230 million in the third quarter of 2023. Sales in the quarter were $3.16 billion, down 12% from $3.6 billion.

“Refined and specialty oils performed well but down from a strong prior year as higher results in Asia were more than offset by lower results in North and South America,” Neppl said. “Results in Europe were in line with last year.”

In the Milling division, adjusted EBIT was $13 million, down 61% from $33 million in the third quarter of 2023. Net sales also were lower, falling 15% to $407 million from $479 million.

“In Milling, slightly higher results in North America were more than offset by lower results in South America, where higher raw materials costs pressured margins,” Neppl said.

In the nine months ended Sept. 30, net income attributable to Bunge decreased to $535 million, or $3.73 per share, down from $1.63 billion, or $10.71 per share, in the same period a year ago. Adjusted EPS for the nine months was $7.06, down from $9.97 a year ago.

Net sales, meanwhile, fell 11% to $39.57 billion from $44.6 billion.

Looking ahead, Heckman said Bunge will seek out additional opportunities to get better while pointing to steps the company has taken to strengthen the business.

“We’ve spent significant capital improving the facilities and operations across our outstanding global footprint, and our team is making sure those investments pay off in improved efficiency and reliability,” he said. “For instance, our US plants had the best soy crush performance for a crop year ever, and we continue to run at high utilization rates. We also reached year-to-date record volumes in global rapeseed crushing and refining.

“In the quarter, we broke ground on an expansion of our palm and specialty oils facility in Avondale, Louisiana, that we purchased last year. This facility, which has multi-oil capabilities, builds on our ability to provide specialty oils to our food customers in North America and is already exceeding our initial performance expectations. We’re excited to further grow our operations in this location that has significantly improved our reach across North America