Bunge Reports $70 Million Profit

WHITE PLAINS - Apr 29/04 - SNS -- Bunge Limited reported a net profit of $70 on sales of $5,739 million during its first quarter ending March 31.

The results compare favorable with a profit of $40 million on sales of $4,842 million during the same quarter last year. The company also reported the tonnage handled during the quarter reached 23.8 million metric tons (MT), up from the 22.9 million during the same three month period last year.

Alberto Weisser, Bunge's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The poor U.S. harvest in 2003-04 and revised expectations for the crop in South America resulted in soybean futures prices increasing to a level not seen in over 15 years."

He added, "Bunge's soy crush profitability is not determined by whether soybean prices are high or low. Instead, margins are determined by the relative spread between the price at which we buy soybeans and the price at which we sell the derived products of soybean meal and oil. Our business model is positioned to deliver results when soybean prices are high, as they are now, and when they are low, as they were as recently as last year.

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