Bunge's CEO Greg Heckman announced positive first-quarter results, highlighting the company’s strong execution in a balanced market environment and significant progress on its integration with Viterra.
Bunge reported a net income of $244 million for Q1 2024, down from $632 million in the same period last year. The company’s net income per share also decreased from $4.15 to $1.68. However, adjusted net income per share was $3.04 compared to $3.26 in Q1 2023. Core segment EBIT for the quarter was $537 million, down from $947 million in the previous year.
In Agribusiness, Q1 volumes increased to 20,192 thousand metric tons from 18,386 thousand metric tons in Q1 2023. Net sales dropped to $9.74 billion from $10.85 billion. The segment's EBIT was $278 million, down from $705 million, while adjusted EBIT was $487 million compared to $512 million last year.
The Refined & Specialty Oils segment saw a slight increase in volumes to 2,195 thousand metric tons from 2,146 thousand metric tons, but net sales fell to $3.24 billion from $3.89 billion. Segment EBIT was $226 million, slightly down from $233 million, while adjusted EBIT was $204 million compared to $234 million in Q1 2023.
The Milling segment reported higher results, with net sales of $821 million, gross profit of $60 million, and an adjusted EBIT of $28 million, up from $10 million in Q1 2023.
In the Non-Core Segments, Sugar & Bioenergy net sales were $43 million, with a segment EBIT of $23 million, up from $19 million last year.
Cash provided by operating activities increased to $994 million from $931 million in Q1 2023, despite lower reported net income. Adjusted funds from operations were $514 million compared to $625 million last year.
Looking ahead, Bunge expects full-year 2024 adjusted EPS of approximately $9.00. Agribusiness results are forecasted to be similar to the previous outlook, while Refined & Specialty Oils are expected to be down from last year. Milling results are projected to improve, and Corporate and Other results are expected to increase.
For 2024, Bunge anticipates an adjusted annual effective tax rate of 22% to 25%, net interest expense between $280 to $310 million, capital expenditures ranging from $1.2 to $1.4 billion, and depreciation and amortization of approximately $450 million.
