Bunge Limited (NYSE:BG) today reported third quarter 2021 results

• Q3 GAAP EPS of $4.28 vs. $1.84 in the prior year; $3.72 vs. $2.47 on an adjusted basis excluding certain gains/charges and mark-to-market timing differences
• Strong performances across Bunge’s core and non-core operations
• Agribusiness results driven by strong execution and better than expected market environment
• Refined and Specialty Oils performance improved in all regions with particular strength in North America
• Announced actions to further improve business portfolio: forming renewable fuel feedstocks JV with Chevron and sale of Mexico wheat mills
• Repurchased $100 million of Bunge common shares completing existing $500 million authorization; Bunge Board authorized new $500 million program
• Increasing full-year adjusted EPS outlook to at least $11.50 based on strong Q3 results and favorable market trends

• Overview

Greg Heckman, Bunge's Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We delivered a truly exceptional quarter. Our team was nimble, insightful and proactive, effectively managing supply chains, capacity and risk. Our global platform has allowed us to serve our customers - both farmers and end consumers - in today's volatile environment. At the same time, we remain intensely focused on a disciplined and balanced approach to allocating capital to maintain our financial strength, invest in growth opportunities, and return capital to our shareholders.

“Looking ahead, we expect the favorable market trends to continue. We are well-positioned to help our customers across the supply chain address the challenges in meeting increasing consumer demand for sustainable food, feed and fuel.”

• Financial Highlights

• Third Quarter Results

Core Segments

Agribusiness

In Processing, higher results in North America, European softseeds and our Asian and European destination value chains, which all benefited from strong vegetable oil demand, were partially offset by lower results in South America, where margins were down compared to a particularly strong prior year.

In Merchandising, improved performance was primarily driven by higher results in ocean freight, due to strong execution, and our global vegetable oil value chain, which benefited from increased margins.

Refined & Specialty Oils Summary

The strong performance in the quarter was primarily driven by higher margins and volumes in North America refining, which continued to benefit from a recovery in foodservice and increased demand from the renewable diesel sector. Higher margins in Europe driven by favorable product mix also contributed to the improved performance. Results in South America and Asia were slightly higher than last year.

Milling Summary

Lower results in the quarter were driven by Brazil where higher volume was more than offset by lower margins and higher supply chain costs. Results in North America were comparable with last year.

Corporate and Other Summary

The increase in Corporate expenses during the quarter was primarily related to performance-based compensation accruals. The gain in Other was primarily related to our Bunge Venture’s investment in Benson Hill, which went public during the quarter.

Non-core Segments

Sugar & Bioenergy Summary

Improved results in the quarter were primarily driven by higher prices and sales volumes of ethanol and sugar.

Cash Flow

Cash used for operations in the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $1,642 million compared to cash used of $2,128 million in the same period last year. Adjusting for the net proceeds from beneficial interest in securitized trade receivables, cash provided from operating activities was $1,613 million compared with cash used for operating activities of $964 million in the prior year. Funds from operations (FFO) adjusted for notable items and mark-to-market timing differences was $1,304 million compared to $1,299 million in the prior year⁽⁵⁾.

Income Taxes

For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, income tax expense was $334 million compared to $151 million for the prior year. The increase in income tax expense is due to higher pre-tax income, partially offset by a lower estimated effective tax rate for 2021.

• COVID-19 Update

Bunge continues to take proactive steps to protect the health and safety of its employees, their families and the communities in which it operates. Through an internal task force, the Company closely monitors developments related to the pandemic and provides guidance to its facilities worldwide. Bunge is strongly encouraging its employees to be vaccinated when available in their countries, and facilitating this when possible.

To date, the Company has been able to mitigate logistics and distribution issues that have arisen, and substantially all of its facilities around the world have continued to operate at or near normal levels. Bunge continues to monitor local, regional and national governmental actions that could limit or restrict the movement of agricultural commodities or products or otherwise disrupt physical product flows or its ability to operate in the future.

• Outlook

We are increasing our full-year 2021 adjusted EPS outlook to at least $11.50 per share.

In Agribusiness, results are expected to be up from our previous outlook and now forecasted to be higher than last year, reflecting our strong third quarter and favorable market trends.

In Refined and Specialty Oils, results are expected to be up from our previous outlook and well above last year, reflecting strong third quarter results and positive demand trends in North America.

We continue to expect results in Milling to be generally in line with last year.

Excluding Bunge Ventures, Corporate and Other is expected to be lower than last year, driven by higher performance-based compensation, a portion of which was historically allocated to the segments.

Additionally, the Company now expects the following for 2021: an adjusted annual effective tax rate in the range of 15% to 17%; net interest expense in the range of $200 to $210 million; capital expenditures in the range of $350 to $400 million; and depreciation and amortization of approximately $420 million.

In Non-Core, full-year results in the sugar and bioenergy joint venture are now expected to be up significantly from the prior year.

• Conference Call and Webcast Details

Bunge Limited’s management will host a conference call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern (7:00 a.m. Central) on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 to discuss the company’s results.

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

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.

To access the webcast, go to “Events and presentations” in the “Investors” section of the company’s website. Select “Q3 2021 Bunge Limited Earnings 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.

A replay of the call will be available later in the day on October 27, 2021, continuing through November 27, 2021. 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 10160167. A replay will also be available in "Past events" at "Events and presentations" in the "Investors" section of the company's website.

• 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 put quality food on the table, increase sustainability where we operate, strengthen global food security, 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 improve the productivity and environmental efficiency of agriculture across our value chains and to bring quality products from where they’re grown to where they’re consumed. At the same time, we collaborate with our customers to create and reimagine the future of food, developing tailored and innovative solutions to meet evolving dietary needs and trends in every part of the world. Our Company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and we have almost 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, 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

This press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). These forward looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations and projections about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. 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 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 important factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements: industry conditions, including fluctuations in supply, demand and prices for agricultural commodities and other raw materials and products used in our business, fluctuations in energy and freight costs; competitive developments in our industries; the effects of weather conditions and the outbreak of crop and animal disease on our business; global and regional economic, agricultural, financial and commodities market, political, social and health conditions; the impacts of pandemic outbreaks, including COVID-19; the outcome of pending regulatory and legal proceedings; our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic alliances; our ability to achieve the efficiencies, savings and other benefits anticipated from cost reduction, margin improvement, operational excellence and other business optimization initiatives; changes in government policies, laws and regulations affecting our business, including agricultural and trade policies and environmental, tax and biofuels regulation; our capital allocation plans, funding needs and financing sources; changes in foreign exchange policy or rates; the outcome of our portfolio rationalization initiatives; the effectiveness of our risk management strategies; our ability to attract and retain executive management and key personnel; operational risks, including industrial accidents, natural disasters and cybersecurity incidents; 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.

• 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 September 30, 2021 and 2020.

See Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures.

Core Segments

Agribusiness

EBIT for the three months ended September 30, 2021 included a $158 million gain on sale of a portfolio of interior grain elevators located in the United States (U.S. Grain Disposition), recorded in Other income (expense) - net.

Corporate and Other

Net Income for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 included a $21 million benefit related to the reversal of a deferred tax asset valuation allowance in Europe.

Certain gains and (charges), year-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 nine month periods ended September 30, 2021 and 2020.

See Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures.

Core Segments

Agribusiness

EBIT for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 included a $158 million gain on sale of a portfolio of interior grain elevators located in the United States (U.S. Grain Disposition), recorded in Other income (expense) - net.

Refined and Specialty Oil Products

EBIT for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 included $170 million in gains on sales of assets, comprised of a $151 million gain on sale of our Rotterdam Oils Refinery, at Bunge's 70% share, and a $19 million gain on sale of an oils packaging facility in Mexico, both recorded in Other income (expense) - net.

Corporate and Other

EBIT for the nine month period ended September 30, 2020 included a $66 million charge primarily related to a provision against an aged receivable that in the nine months ended September 30, 2020 became deemed uncollectible as part of an anticipated legal settlement. For this matter $51 million was recorded in SG&A and $15 million was recorded in Other income (expense) - net. EBIT for the nine month period ended September 30, 2020 also included $5 million of charges related to the relocation of Bunge’s global headquarters from White Plains, New York to St. Louis, Missouri, included in SG&A. Net Income for the nine month period ended September 30, 2020 included a $21 million benefit related to the reversal of a deferred tax asset valuation allowance in Europe.