Bunge Limited (BG) has reported a 33.50 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $271 million, or $1.82 a share in the quarter, compared with $203 million, or $1.30 a share for the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share from continuing operations were at $1.70 for the quarter compared with $1.49 in the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter grew 8.59 percent to $12,059 million from $11,105 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 49 basis points over the previous year period to 5.84 percent. Total expenses were 96.01 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 97.25 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 124 basis points in operating margin to 3.99 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $481 million, compared with $305 million in the previous year period.
Soren Schroder, Bunge’s chief executive officer, stated, "Bunge had a solid fourth quarter to end a challenging year. Higher Food & Ingredients and Sugar & Bioenergy results in 2016 reflect our team’s hard work to drive structural improvements to increase the underlying competitiveness of our businesses. Agribusiness faced a very competitive global market environment, but finished strong. Our 2016 adjusted ROIC in our core Agribusiness and Food operations was 8.6%, 1.6 points over our cost of capital."
Operating cash flow improves significantly
Bunge Limited has generated cash of $1,904 million from operating activities during the year, up 212.13 percent or $1,294 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $926 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $802 million in the last year.
The company has spent $488 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash inflow of $360 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $934 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 127.25 percent or $523 million from $411 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Working capital decreases marginally
Bunge Limited has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $3,408 million as at Dec. 31, 2016, down 4.70 percent or $168 million from $3,576 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.44 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 1.49 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Debt remains almost stable
Bunge Limited has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $4,792 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 0.50 percent or $24 million from $4,768 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 24.97 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 26.60 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.65 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 0.72 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Interest coverage ratio improved to 10.69 for the quarter from 4.30 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
