Reuters — Agricultural commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Company recorded a rise in first-half sales, supported by higher volumes shipped, but weaker prices for most crops pushed down profits, it said on Friday.
LDC — commonly known as Dreyfus and part of the ABCD quartet of global crop merchants alongside ADM, Bunge Global and Cargill — said first-half volumes were up 4.4 per cent on the year, contributing to a 2.3 per cent rise in sales to US$26.2 billion.
Core EBITDA profit, however, fell 6.6 per cent to $987 million while net profit dropped 14.5 per cent to $418 million.
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The group’s coffee division stood out by posting higher operating profit, supported by increased volumes and prices. But most other units, including grains and oilseeds, recorded lower results due to weaker prices, trade tensions and an uncertain economic climate, LDC said in an interim financial report.
The company increased capital expenditure in the first half to US$521 million from US$299 million a year earlier, notably to expand oilseed processing, including in North America.
LDC is set to expand its global oilseed capacity further after acquiring assets in Hungary and Poland from Bunge. It said the initial price of the acquisition was US$483 million.
Higher first-half spending contributed to a rise in LDC’s adjusted net debt to $2.4 billion from $1 billion at the end of 2024, it said.
