DULUTH, GEORGIA, U.S. — AGCO, a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, reported  on Oct. 28 that net income attributable to AGCO corporation and subsidiaries for the third quarter was $67 million or 77¢ per share, up 3% from $65 million or 69¢ per share.

AGCO is the parent company of GSI, Assumption, Illinois, U.S.

These results compare to reported net income of 69¢ per share and adjusted net income, excluding restructuring and other infrequent expenses, of 71¢ per share for the third quarter of 2014. Excluding unfavorable currency translation impacts of approximately 15%, net sales in the third quarter of 2015 decreased approximately 4.4% compared to the third quarter of 2014.

Net sales were approximately $1.7 billion for the third quarter of 2015, a decrease of approximately 19.4% compared to net sales of approximately $2.2 billion for the third quarter of 2014.

“With much of the strong U.S. harvest already in the grain bins, and with healthy crop production across Europe and South America, we are experiencing the third consecutive year of robust global harvests,” said Martin Richenhagen, AGCO’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Elevated crop production is pressuring grain prices and farm income, resulting in softer demand for farm equipment. In North America, industry sales have progressively declined through the first nine months of the year. Weaker demand from the large farm sector resulted in significant declines in industry retail sales of high-horsepower tractors, combines and sprayers. More stable sales of hay and forage equipment and small tractors, due to more normal conditions in the livestock sector, has provided a partial offset to the decline in large agricultural equipment. Industry retail sales in Western Europe declined more modestly from 2014 levels. Margins for dairy producers remained weak, and lower commodity prices kept market demand soft from the arable farming segment. Declines were most pronounced in the United Kingdom, Finland and Germany. Industry demand in South America has weakened throughout 2015. The lower sales were driven primarily by significant declines in Brazil due to weakness in the general economy, changes to the government financing program and softness in the sugar sector. Longer term, we are optimistic about the fundamentals supporting commodity prices and farm income as well as healthy growth in our industry.”

Lower industry demand for farm equipment across all regions and the unfavorable effect of foreign currency translation are expected to continue to negatively impact AGCO’s sales and earnings for the remainder of 2015. AGCO’s 2015 net sales are expected to range from $7.5 to $7.6 billion. Gross and operating margins are expected to be below 2014 levels due to the negative impact of lower sales and production volumes coupled with a weaker sales mix. Benefits from the company’s restructuring and other cost reduction initiatives and a lower tax rate are expected to partially offset the volume-related impacts. Based on these assumptions, 2015 earnings per share are targeted at approximately $3.20, excluding restructuring and other infrequent expenses.