Corn Products International, Inc. (CPO) is the largest producer of dextrose in the world and manufactures starches, high fructose corn syrups and glucose. The company has 35 plants in 15 countries.
On Nov 10, Bunge Limited (
BG) announced that its $4.4 billion acquisition of Corn Products would not be completed. Under the agreement, CPO had to reimburse Bunge for up to $10 million of Bunge's costs and expenses dealing with the transaction.
Record Third Quarter Results
On Oct 24, the company reported record third-quarter earnings per share of $1.15 easily beating analysts estimates of 78 cents. It was a gain of 74% over the 2007 quarter which saw 66 cents.
Sales jumped 24% to $1.08 billion from $877 million in the year ago period. It was the 11th consecutive record quarter. The surge in sales was due to a stronger price/product mix.
All three division saw sales increases. South America gained 33% to $305 million from $230 million with volumes slightly positive. The gain was a result of positive price/product mix and foreign currency translations.
North America saw volumes down slightly but sales increased 22%. Asia/Africa increased 13% primarily due to improved product/price mix even though there were lower volumes. There was strong growth in Pakistan, Thailand and China but a decline in South Korea.
2008 Full Year Guidance Raised
Given the record third quarter, Corn Products raised 2008 full-year guidance to the range of $3.40 to $3.60 compared to its previous guidance of $3.15 to $3.35. EPS is expected to be 31% to 39% higher than 2007, which saw a record EPS of $2.59.
Value Fundamentals Still Intact
Corn Products was a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) when we last reviewed it on Apr 30. It is now a Zacks #2 Rank (buy).
It's trading at 8.5x forward earnings. The company's price-to-book is 1.35. CPO has an excellent 1-year return on equity (ROE) of 15.66%.
Additionally, Corn Products recently announced a 14 cent dividend payable on Jan 26, 2009 to shareholders of record on Jan 8, 2009. The stock has a current yield of 1.90%.
