Earnings for the fiscal year that ended May 31 were $3.33 billion, down 16 percent from the record $3.95 billion in fiscal year 2008. Cargill is a privately held company with arms in virtually every aspect of agriculture, from commodities trading to crop exporting and fertilizer production.
Cargill and other agribusiness firms were caught by a whipsaw year in the global food market. Crop prices were trading at historic highs just last summer, but prices fell last fall when demand collapsed during the global economic meltdown.
Chairman and Chief Executive Greg Page said the fiscal year was "... a tale of two halves. In the second half, earnings slowed considerably as the world economy contracted for the first time in six decades. In the end, the net effect was the second-best year in our company's history."
Revenues for the full year fell 3 percent to $116.6 billion. Cash flow from operations declined 6 percent to $6.7 billion.
Wayazata-based Cargill gives only a broad overview of its financial performance, and doesn't break down profits and losses by segment. The company said that during the fourth quarter, profits at its agriculture services and food ingredients unit were up, while it posted a loss at its risk management and financial unit.
Quarterly profits were dragged down by losses at Mosaic Co., the publicly traded fertilizer maker in which Cargill owns a majority stake. Mosaic said last month its fiscal fourth-quarter profit dropped 83 percent to $146.9 million as sales of fertilizer ingredients potash and phosphate tumbled.
