Company Website: https://bunge.com
ST. LOUIS -- (Business Wire)

Bunge Global SA (NYSE: BG) today reported first quarter 2024 results.

• Q1 GAAP diluted EPS of $1.68 vs. $4.15 in the prior year; $3.04 vs. $3.26 on an adjusted basis excluding certain gains/charges and mark-to-market timing differences
• In Agribusiness higher Processing results were more than offset by lower results in Merchandising
• Refined and Specialty Oils down from a strong prior year
• Significant progress on Viterra integration planning and other growth initiatives
• Repurchased $400 million of shares during the quarter
• Maintaining adjusted full-year EPS outlook of approximately $9.00
  

• Overview

Greg Heckman, Bunge’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased with our first quarter results, which reflect our team’s strong execution in a more balanced market environment. During the quarter we invested further in our pipeline of growth projects and made excellent progress on integration planning for our announced combination with Viterra.”

“While we are off to a strong start, we continue to have limited visibility into the back half of the year. However, we are confident in our team’s ability to stay agile and capture opportunities ahead of us as we remain focused on delivering on our mission of connecting farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed and fuel to the world.”

• Financial Highlights

• First Quarter Results

Core Segments

Agribusiness

Processing ⁽²⁾

Higher results in Europe and Asia crush value chains were partially offset by lower results in North and South America.

Merchandising ⁽²⁾

Lower results were primarily driven by our global grains and oils value chains where higher volumes were more than offset by lower margins.

Refined & Specialty Oils

Refined & Specialty Oils Summary

Higher results in Europe were more than offset by lower results in North America and Asia. Results in South America were in line with last year.

Milling

Milling Summary

Higher results in the quarter were driven by South America reflecting improved margins in milling operations and a more favorable origination market environment.

Corporate and Other

Corporate

Other

Corporate and Other Summary

The decrease in Corporate expenses primarily reflected the timing of performance-based compensation. Higher Other results are related to Bunge Ventures and our captive insurance program.

Non-core Segments

Sugar & Bioenergy

Sugar & Bioenergy Summary

Improved performance was primarily driven by higher sugar volumes and prices, more than offsetting lower ethanol prices.

Cash Flow

Cash provided by operations in the three months ended March 31, 2024 was $994 million compared to $931 million in the same period last year. The slight increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily driven by net changes in working capital, partially offset by lower reported net income. Adjusted funds from operations (FFO) was $514 million compared to $625 million in the prior year.⁽⁴⁾

Income Taxes

For the three months ended March 31, 2024, income tax expense was $117 million compared to $183 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to lower pre-tax income.

Outlook⁽⁵⁾

Taking into account first quarter results and the current margin environment and forward curves, we continue to expect full-year 2024 adjusted EPS of approximately $9.00.

In Agribusiness, full-year results are forecasted to be similar to our previous outlook and down from last year primarily due to lower results in Processing where margins remain compressed in most regions.

In Refined and Specialty Oils, full-year results are expected to be similar to our previous outlook and down from the record prior year reflecting a shift in the supply environment, particularly in the U.S.

In Milling, full-year results are expected to be similar to our previous outlook and up from last year.

In Corporate and Other, full-year results are expected to be similar to our previous outlook and up from last year.

In Non-Core, full-year results in the sugar and bioenergy joint venture are expected to be similar to our previous outlook and significantly down from last year reflecting lower Brazilian ethanol prices.

Additionally, the Company expects the following for 2024: an adjusted annual effective tax rate of 22% to 25%; net interest expense in the range of $280 to $310 million, which is down from our previous expectation of $300 to $330 million; capital expenditures in the range of $1.2 to $1.4 billion; and depreciation and amortization of approximately $450 million.

• Conference Call and Webcast Details

Bunge Global SA’s management will host a conference call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern (7:00 a.m. Central) on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 to discuss the Company’s results.

Additionally, a slide presentation to accompany the discussion of results will be posted on www.bunge.com.

To access the webcast, go to “Events & Presentations” under “News & Events” in the “Investor Center” section of the company’s website. Select “Q1 2024 Bunge Global SA Conference Call” and follow the prompts. Please go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register and download any necessary audio software.

To listen to the call, please dial 1-844-735-3666. If you are located outside the United States or Canada, dial 1-412-317-5706. Please dial in five to 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. The call will also be webcast live at www.bunge.com.

A replay of the call will be available later in the day on April 24, 2024, continuing through May 24, 2024. To listen to it, please dial 1-877-344-7529 in the United States, 1-855-669-9658 in Canada, or 1-412-317-0088 in other locations. When prompted, enter confirmation code 6571723.

• About Bunge

At Bunge (NYSE: BG), our purpose is to connect farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed and fuel to the world. With more than two centuries of experience, unmatched global scale and deeply rooted relationships, we work to strengthen global food security, increase sustainability where we operate, and help communities prosper. As the world’s leader in oilseed processing and a leading producer and supplier of specialty plant-based oils and fats, we value our partnerships with farmers to bring quality products from where they’re grown to where they’re consumed. At the same time, we collaborate with our customers to develop tailored and innovative solutions to meet evolving dietary needs and trends in every part of the world. Our Company has its registered office in Geneva, Switzerland and its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. We have approximately 23,000 dedicated employees working across approximately 300 facilities located in more than 40 countries.

• Website Information

We routinely post important information for investors on our website, www.bunge.com, in the "Investors" section. We may use this website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investors section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.

• Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward Looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward looking statements to encourage companies to provide prospective information to investors. This press release includes forward looking statements that reflect our current expectations and projections about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Forward looking statements include all statements that are not historical in nature. We have tried to identify these forward looking statements by using words including "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "continue" and similar expressions. These forward looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from these forward looking statements:

• the impact on our employees, operations, and facilities from the war in Ukraine and the resulting economic and other sanctions imposed on Russia, including the impact on us resulting from the continuation and/or escalation of the war and sanctions against Russia;
• the effect of weather conditions and the impact of crop and animal disease on our business;
• the impact of global and regional economic, agricultural, financial and commodities market, political, social and health conditions;
• changes in government policies and laws affecting our business, including agricultural and trade policies, financial markets regulation and environmental, tax and biofuels regulation;
• the impact of seasonality;
• the impact of government policies and regulations;
• the outcome of pending regulatory and legal proceedings;
• our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic alliances, including without limitation Bunge’s pending business combination with Viterra Limited (“Viterra”);
• the impact of industry conditions, including fluctuations in supply, demand and prices for agricultural commodities and other raw materials and products that we sell and use in our business, fluctuations in energy and freight costs and competitive developments in our industries;
• the effectiveness of our capital allocation plans, funding needs and financing sources;
• the effectiveness of our risk management strategies;
• operational risks, including industrial accidents, natural disasters, pandemics or epidemics and cybersecurity incidents;
• changes in foreign exchange policy or rates;
• the impact of our dependence on third parties;
• our ability to attract and retain executive management and key personnel; and
• other factors affecting our business generally.

The forward looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and except as otherwise required by federal securities law, we do not have any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

You should refer to "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on February 22, 2024.

• Additional Financial Information

Certain gains and (charges), quarter-to-date

The following table provides a summary of certain gains and (charges) that may be of interest to investors, including a description of these items and their effect on Net income (loss) attributable to Bunge, Earnings per share diluted and Segment EBIT for the three month periods ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

Core Segments

Agribusiness

EBIT for the three months ended March 31, 2023 included a mark-to-market gain of $10 million, in Cost of goods sold, related to inventory recovered from our Mykolaiv and other facilities in Ukraine. The circumstances allowing for recovery of these inventories did not exist and were unforeseeable when the inventory reserves were initially recorded in 2022 in conjunction with the Ukraine-Russia war.

Corporate and Other

Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2024 included $61 million of acquisition and integration costs (net of $4 million in tax benefits) related to the announced business combination agreement with Viterra. Specifically, the Company recorded $4 million of pre-tax charges within Interest expense for financing related fees, and $61 million of pre-tax charges within SG&A for other acquisition and integration related costs.

• Consolidated Earnings Data (Unaudited)

• Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)

• Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

• Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

This earnings release contains certain "non-GAAP financial measures" as defined in Regulation G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Bunge has reconciled these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures below. These measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Total Segment EBIT and Adjusted Total Segment EBIT

Bunge uses segment earnings before interest and tax (“Segment EBIT”) to evaluate the operating performance of its individual segments. Segment EBIT excludes EBIT attributable to noncontrolling interests. Bunge also uses Core Segment EBIT, Non-core Segment EBIT, Corporate and Other EBIT and Total Segment EBIT to evaluate the operating performance of Bunge’s Core reportable segments, Non-core reportable segments and Total reportable segments together with Corporate and Other. Core Segment EBIT is the aggregate of the earnings before interest and taxes of each of Bunge’s Agribusiness, Refined and Specialty Oils, and Milling segments. Non-core Segment EBIT is the earnings before interest and taxes of Bunge’s Sugar & Bioenergy segment. Total Segment EBIT is the aggregate of the earnings before interest and taxes of Bunge’s Core and Non-core reportable segments, together with its Corporate and Other activities.

Adjusted Core Segment EBIT, Adjusted Non-Core Segment EBIT, Adjusted Corporate and Other EBIT and Adjusted Total Segment EBIT, are calculated by excluding temporary mark-to-market timing differences, as defined in note 3 below, and certain gains and (charges), as described in "Additional Financial Information" above, from Core Segment EBIT, Non-Core Segment EBIT, Corporate and Other EBIT, and Total Segment EBIT, respectively.

Core Segment EBIT, Non-core Segment EBIT, Corporate and Other EBIT, Total Segment EBIT, Adjusted Core Segment EBIT, Adjusted Non-core Segment EBIT, Adjusted Corporate and Other EBIT and Adjusted Total Segment EBIT are non-GAAP financial measures and are not intended to replace Net income (loss) attributable to Bunge, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure. Bunge's management believes these non-GAAP measures are a useful measure of its operating profitability, since the measures allow for an evaluation of segment performance without regard to their financing methods or capital structure. For this reason, operating performance measures such as these non-GAAP measures are widely used by analysts and investors in Bunge's industries. These non-GAAP measures are not a measure of consolidated operating results under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to Net income (loss) or any other measure of consolidated operating results under U.S. GAAP.

Net Income (loss) attributable to Bunge to Adjusted Net Income (loss) attributable to Bunge

Adjusted Net Income (loss) excludes temporary mark-to-market timing differences, as defined in note 3 below, and certain gains and (charges), as described in "Additional Financial Information" above, and is a non-GAAP financial measure. This measure is not a measure of Net income (loss) attributable to Bunge, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure. It should not be considered as an alternative to Net Income (loss) attributable to Bunge, Net Income (loss), or any other measure of consolidated operating results under U.S. GAAP. Adjusted Net income (loss) is a useful measure of the Company's profitability.

We also have presented projected Adjusted Net income per share for 2024. This information is provided only on a non-GAAP basis without reconciliation to projected Net Income per share for 2024, the mostly directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure. The most directly comparable GAAP measure has not been provided due to the inability to quantify certain amounts necessary for such reconciliation, including but not limited to potentially significant future market price movements over the remainder of the year.

Below is a reconciliation of Net income (loss) attributable to Bunge, to Total Segment EBIT, and Adjusted Total Segment EBIT:

Below is a reconciliation of Net income (loss) attributable to Bunge, to Adjusted Net income (loss) attributable to Bunge:

Adjusted Funds From Operations

Adjusted FFO is calculated by excluding from Cash provided by (used for) operating activities, foreign exchange gain (loss) on net debt, working capital changes, net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests and redeemable noncontrolling interests, and mark-to-market timing differences after tax. Adjusted FFO is a non-GAAP financial measure and is not intended to replace Cash provided by (used for) operating activities, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure. Bunge's management believes the presentation of this measure allows investors to view its cash generating performance using the same measure that management uses in evaluating financial and business performance and trends without regard to foreign exchange gains and losses, working capital changes and mark-to-market timing differences. This non-GAAP measure is not a measure of consolidated cash flow under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to Cash provided by (used for) operating activities, Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, or any other measure of consolidated cash flow under U.S. GAAP.

• Notes

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240424414067/en/

Contacts:

Investor Contact:
Ruth Ann Wisener
Bunge Global SA
636-292-3014
ruthann.wisener@bunge.com

Media Contact:
Bunge News Bureau
Bunge Global SA
636-292-3022
news@bunge.com

Source: Bunge Global SA