The Andersons Inc.’s ANDE second-quarter 2015 earnings of $1.09 per share plunged 30% from $1.56 earned in the year-ago quarter. Earnings, however, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01.
Operational Update
Revenues in the reported quarter declined 7.9% year over year to $1.21 billion and also fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 billion.
Cost of sales fell 7.6% to $1.1 billion from $1.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. Gross profit decreased 11% year over year to $108 million. This led to a 30 basis points decline in gross margin to 8.95% in the quarter.
Operating, administrative and general expenses went up 9.8% year over year to $83.7 million. Adjusted net income decreased to $31.1 million from $44.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating profit decreased 46% to $24.4 million. Operating margin declined 150 basis points to 2% in the quarter.
Segment Performance
The Grain Group: Revenues decreased to $625 million from $656 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating income declined substantially to $3.1 million from $10.4 million in the year-ago quarter.
The Ethanol Group: Revenues decreased 38% year over year to $139 million. The segment reported operating income of $11 million, tumbling 72% from $40 million in the year-ago quarter.
The Plant Nutrient Group: The segment reported revenues of $357 million, down 0.7% year over year, and operating income of $18.9 million which declined 30% from $27 million in the year-ago quarter.
The Rail Group: Revenues declined 36% year over year to $45.5 million. Operating income increased to $21.7 million from $6.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
The Retail Group: Revenues for the segment decreased to $41 million from $41.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The segment posted operating income of $1.5 million in the quarter, compared with $1.6 million in the prior-year quarter.
Financial Performance
Andersons ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $40.8 million compared with $47 million at the end of the third quarter of 2014. Long-term debt was $417 million as of Jun 30, 2015 versus $300 million as of Jun 30, 2014.
Outlook
Andersons’ strong fundamentals will benefit its core businesses in 2015. The company expects demand for ethanol to remain strong as lower gasoline prices will aid demand for the same. The company believes export demand in the Ethanol Group will support margins.
Further, the Plant Nutrient Group will see volume improvement in 2016, as farmers address their soil nutrient demands created by an abnormally wet spring. Andersons will also benefit from the Kay Flo acquisition in 2016.
Maumee, OH-based Andersons is a diversified company operating in six different business segments ranging from buying, selling and storing grain to leasing railcars and running retail stores catering to the latest home hardware needs.
Andersons currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the sector are Gruma S.A.B. de CV GMK, Syngenta AG SYT and Air Products & Chemicals Inc. APD. While Gruma holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Syngenta and Air Products & Chemicals carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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