Cargill reports stellar full-year and fourth-quarter earnings performance

Animal protein and nutrition were the largest contributors to Cargill’s stellar full-year and fourth-quarter earnings performance.The company called results in its protein business in the past year “exceptional,” crediting in part rising domestic and export demand for North American beef.  That performance came amid significant investments in the protein segment. In the United States, Cargill expanded processing plants for fresh ground beef, and cooked meat and eggs. Internationally, the company acquired Colombian poultry retailer Pollos El Bucanero, formed U.K.-based Avara Foods, a fresh poultry venture, and opened a major poultry plant in the Philippines with Jollibee Foods.In the fourth quarter, Cargill reported net earnings of $711 million, more than double last year’s $347 million, on a 7 percent increase in revenue, to $30.4 billion.For the full year, Cargill netted profit of $3.1 billion, up 9 percent, on a 5 percent rise in sale, to $114.7 billion. Both net and adjusted earnings included a charge of $86 million related to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in December 2017.