CEO Patricia Woertz

Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit tumbled 53 percent as the global recession dragged down demand for crops and ethanol, but demand is improving in some key markets. CEO Patricia Woertz said sales improved from the first half of 2009, and the company was seeing some stronger demand as the U.S. economy pulls out of recession. "Earnings were significantly better than the second half of fiscal 2009," Woertz said in a statement. The company said it earned $496 million, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.04 billion, or $1.62 per share, last year. The results widely beat Wall Street ... Read Full Story

Greater investment, innovation and improved public-private partnerships are needed to meet the world's growing demand for food, business and government leaders said at the World Food Prize symposium. The chief executives of DuPont and Archer Daniels Midland Co., two major players in international agriculture, and the agriculture secretary for the Netherlands spoke Wednesday, the first day of the conference in Des Moines. All three said demand for food worldwide will double by 2050 and agriculture must meet that demand by increasing production on land already in use. A survey done by ADM showed that if each of the top 15 food producing nations or ... Read Full Story

The CEO of agribusiness leader Archer Daniels Midland Co. received compensation worth $14.9 million in fiscal 2009, a decrease of nearly 2 percent from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures filed with regulators. Chief executive Patricia Woertz's base salary was virtually unchanged at $1.29 million, compared with $1.3 million the year before. Her bonus fell 33 percent to $2.04 million, from $3.04 million. That cut came during a tumultuous year for ADM, which is involved in businesses as diverse as growing and shipping grain and producing food additives and ethanol. Record-high grain prices last summer helped its commodity trading ... Read Full Story

Archer Daniels Midland says its fiscal fourth-quarter profit tumbled 83 percent as its results were pressured by higher corn costs, lower average selling prices and softer demand. The Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness company earned $64 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with $372 million, or 58 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Analysts forecast profit of 45 cents per share for the period ended June 30. Revenue fell 24 percent to $16.53 billion but beat Wall Street's estimate of $15.24 billion. Archer Daniels Midland Co. says lower average selling prices reduced sales by about $5.8 billion. Corn processing operating profit ... Read Full Story

Archer Daniels Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities and products primarily in the United States. It operates in three segments: Oilseeds Processing, Corn Processing, and Agricultural Services. Archer Daniels Midland is a dividend aristocrat as well as a component of the S&P 500 index. It has been increasing its dividends for the past 33 consecutive years. From the end of 1999 up until September 2008 this dividend stock has delivered an annual average total return of 6.50 % to its shareholders. The stock has lost over half its value so far in 2008. At the same time company has managed ... Read Full Story