Profits at Cargill fell 42% in the third quarter, after input costs soared following last year’s US drought.

The agri-food giant reported today net earnings of $445m in the three months to 28 February 2013, down from $766m in the same period last year. Third-quarter revenues were up 1%, to $32.2bn.

The third-quarter results demonstrated the “balance” in Cargill’s portfolio, said Greg Page, chairman and CEO. “In North America, our meat processing businesses were pressured by the drought-related high cost of feed ingredients,” he said. But even though many of Cargill’s global ingredients businesses experienced higher input costs, they nearly matched their strong performance in last year’s third quarter, he added.

Earnings in Cargill’s agriculture services division were down largely due to the prolonged impact of last year’s drought in North America. In its origination and processing sector, the company saw strong export demand for US soybeans due to limited pre-harvest supplies in South America.

In food ingredients and applications, the Venezuelan currency devaluation in February negatively affected results, and animal protein was impacted by high feed costs and tight cattle supply, the company said.

In the risk management and financial business segment, asset management activities performed well but not as briskly as last year when financial markets rallied in response to easing in the European debt crisis, Cargill added.

Cargill’s fifth business unit - industrial - saw earnings rise as sales volumes of road de-icing products increased on last year.

Nine-month earnings totalled $1.83bn, up 66% from $1.1bn in the same period last year.

Privately held, Cargill employs 142,000 people across 65 countries.

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