The Illinois-based corn refiner and supplier of sweeteners and starches had a difficult year in 2009, when it saw net income fall 85 percent compared to 2008, hit by high corn prices early in the year and unfavorable currency conversion rates. But better than expected demand from the beverage industry in Mexico and increased demand from the South American food industry during the first half of fiscal 2010 has led to a rebound in sales – up to $1bn in Q2 2010, compared to $912m for the same period a year earlier.
Chairman, president and CEO Ilene Gordon said: “We saw strong volume recovery across all our regions. In North America, we continued to see strong demand from the beverage industry in Mexico. In South America, volume growth was led by our customers in the brewing, confectionary, processed foods, and packaging industries. Volume improvement in Asia/Africa was led by customer demand for sweeteners and starches in South Korea and the confectionary and textile industries in Pakistan."
The company also saw profits rise to $37m during the quarter, compared to a loss of $87m for the same period last year, and raised its earnings forecast to $2.55 to $2.75 per share. In February, the company had forecast earnings of $2.25 to $2.60 per share.
Commenting on the company’s acquisition of National Starch last month, Gordon said: "I am pleased to report that we are making good progress with respect to the National Starch acquisition. Our integration work is underway and we are progressing with our regulatory filings. We expect the transaction to close near the end of September or early October of 2010."