Bunge Profits Soar

NEW YORK - Oct 25/07 - SNS -- Bunge Limited reported a net income of U.S. $351 million on sales of $12,676 million for the third quarter ending September 30, compared to a net of $169 million on sales of $6,965 million during the same three month period last year.

This lifted fiscal year to date earnings to $533 million on sales of $30,786 million, compared to a net of $257 million on sales of $18,591 million during the first three quarters of the previous fiscal year.

Bunge said agribusiness results increased in all regions. Improved performances in Europe and South America were driven by higher grain origination and oilseed processing margins. North America benefited from strong grain export volume. Distribution results improved due to strong global demand and improved margins. Risk management strategies worked well during the quarter.

The strong performance in fertilizer was due to higher margins, which benefited from higher international prices for imported fertilizers and raw materials, as products are priced to import parity. As expected, demand for fertilizer products slowed in the third quarter after above trend line volume growth in the first half of the year, and was slightly lower when compared to the same period last year.

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