Cargill's second quarter earnings up 44%

Cargill today reported net earnings of $954 million for the 2008 second quarter ended Nov. 30, up 44 percent from $662 million in the same period a year ago. In the first six months, the company earned $1.87 billion, a 61 percent increase from $1.16 billion a year ago.

“We are very pleased with today’s results,” said Greg Page, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer. “Strong fundamentals are driving volume and volatility in global agriculture today. Cargill is in position to benefit from these forces because of our past investments, our risk management and our commitment to creating shared value with customers.”

Page said that over the past seven years, Cargill has invested upward of $18 billion in fixed and working capital to expand the company’s global footprint. “Today we are moving bigger volumes of commodities, through more facilities, at higher utilization rates and over longer distances. As we’ve grown, we’ve also strengthened our ability to measure and assess risk. That’s been crucial, given the speed and magnitude of price movements in today’s agricultural and energy markets.”