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Strategies & Market Trends : Speculating in Takeover Targets
ULBI 7.750+0.5%Dec 10 9:30 AM EST

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To: Trader2015 who wrote (3898)3/23/2015 12:32:46 PM
From: richardred   of 7126
 
Personally the stock is trading new the 52 week low. I think the company can be broken up and the pieces sold off to bring in more value than the current price. I think ANDE is certainly not overprice at the current PE. However next year is not foretasted to be as good. I like the margins of the rail group & Plant Nutrient business. It's a stock I'm going to be keeping my eyes on. I'm familiar with the company since the Ethanol boom/bust.
Subject 55246

Agriculture, Glencore’s next move?

As the industry awaits Glencore’s next move, the focus has been on whether it’ll make another run for Rio Tinto.
Jesse Riseborough & Javier Blas (Bloomberg) | 23 March 2015 11:04

With only one acquisition in the past 11 months, Glencore Plc’s billionaire chief Ivan Glasenberg is in the midst of a deal-making drought.

As the industry awaits his next move, the focus has been on whether he’ll make another run for the world’s second-biggest miner Rio Tinto Group, which spurned an approach last year. Underpinned by a stellar $800 million increase in profits from the division last year, agriculture may offer a more tempting expansion opportunity for the company.

Glencore, one of the world’s largest traders of wheat, became a major agriculture player when it bought Canadian grain handler Viterra Inc. for C$6.1 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2012. Nonetheless, it still has no presence in the most important grain market of all: the U.S.

Although no move is imminent, businesses including Scoular Co., Andersons Inc. and Lansing Trade Group LLC may be targets, adding physical assets like grain silos and rail terminals, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking who asked not to be named for reasons of confidentiality.

“It may well make sense for the next deal to be in agriculture,” Michael Rawlinson, co-head of mining and metals investment banking at Barclays Plc, said in an interview. “That’s how it works at Glencore, bolster your contribution to profitability and you’ll be provided with greater resources for growth.”

Coal Trader

Chief Executive Officer Glasenberg, a 58-year-old accountant turned coal trader, has largely built his $5 billion fortune by growing the commodity producer and trader through more than 40 deals since becoming CEO in 2002.

Chief Financial Officer Steve Kalmin said in December that Glencore, or G, should be added to the crop industry’s ABCD, the informal acronym representing the biggest players in grain trading — Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Bunge Ltd., Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Commodities BV.

“There are very few remaining assets in the U.S. as most of the capacity has been bought by the ABCD and Japanese traders,” said Karel Valken, global head of agri-finance at Rabobank, the largest lender to the farming industry.

Scoular is a more than century-old closely held grain trader based in Nebraska, while Andersons is a Nasdaq-listed company based in Ohio focusing on grains, ethanol and plant nutrients worth $1.1 billion. Lansing Trade is a Kansas grain merchant co-owned by Andersons, Australian bank Macquarie Group Ltd. and its employees.

“Scoular is not seeking, and has no intention to entertain, proposals that would alter this independent ownership,” CEO Charles Elsea said in an e-mail. “Opportunities for growth as an independent company offer the highest return to our shareholders, and that is the path we will continue to pursue.”

Andersons and Lansing Trade didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Andersons rose as much as 5.4 percent in New York, the biggest intraday gain since November.

Kansas City

While buying one of the larger ABCD companies would fill the U.S. gap, a deal of that scale is probably too ambitious. Other smaller, independent grain businesses in the U.S. include two Kansas-based closely held companies, Bartlett & Co. and Seaboard Corp.

“The U.S. has to be part of the portfolio of a global grain trader,” said Philippe de Laperouse, managing director of agribusiness consultant HighQuest Partners LLC and a former senior executive at Bunge. “Eventually, you need the U.S. corn, soybean and wheat.”

Other than Viterra, Glencore’s recent takeover record has been patchy, at best.

The $29 billion all-share acquisition of Xstrata Plc, the world’s biggest exporter of power station coal, has been undermined by a collapse in the price of the fuel to the lowest in more than five years. Glencore last year decided to idle some of the coal mines bought in the 2013 deal.

Rio Merger

Last year, it spent about $1.35 billion buying an oil exploration and production company Caracal Energy Inc. in Chad. Since then the price of oil has plummeted almost 60 percent.

Glencore made an approach to Rio Tinto’s chairman last year about a possible merger. After that was made public, Glencore had to forgo a fresh approach for six months. Even though that lock-up expires next month, a second run isn’t considered likely because Glencore’s share price has fallen relative to Rio, a larger company.

Chris Mahoney, a member of a British rowing crew that won silver in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, heads Glencore’s agriculture division and oversaw the takeover of Viterra. The company is now one of the world’s two leading traders of wheat, handling about 18 percent of the global seaborne trade.

The company is among the top-three agricultural exporters in Russia, the European Union, Canada and Australia — all key countries in the global food market. On top of trading and processing grains, Glencore also farms 180,000 hectares (444,790 acres) of land in Eastern Europe, equivalent to about half the size of Rhode Island.

The late Marc Rich, who in 1974 created the company that later became Glencore, started the agriculture business in 1982 after buying Dutch grain trader Granaria Group.

Wheat Production

The company reported adjusted earnings from its agricultural products business of $992 million last year, up from $192 million a year earlier. That was underpinned by a fourfold increase in its marketing division, thanks largely to record wheat harvest in Canada and Europe last year.

Glencore’s most recent deal was the purchase of a 50 percent stake in an agricultural export terminal in northern Brazil from Chicago-based Archer-Daniels-Midland.

In “agriculture, because it’s so geographical, very small and prone to seasonality, you do get these big arbitrage opportunities,” Ben Davis, a commodities analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London, said by phone. “I definitely imagine they are going to increasingly go that way.”

Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is a senior independent non-executive director of Glencore.

©2015 Bloomberg News
mineweb.com

P.S. ANDE latest QTR.

The Andersons, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter & Full Year Results Feb 10, 2015


Record Full-Year Earnings of $3.84 per Diluted Share

Fourth Quarter Earnings of $0.89 per Diluted Share

Ethanol Group Leads Earnings Results

MAUMEE, Ohio, Feb. 10, 2015 / PRNewswire/ -- The Andersons, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE) today announces financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2014.

Highlights

  • Record full-year earnings of $3.84 per diluted share, unadjusted.
  • The Ethanol Group delivered full-year operating income of $92.3 million, far exceeding its prior best year of $50.6 million in 2013.
  • Continued growth in the fourth quarter highlighted by the acquisition of Auburn Bean & Grain.


  • "We are pleased with our results in 2014. The company's earnings this year have clearly been led by the exceptionally strong performance of our ethanol business in a very supportive market," said CEO Mike Anderson. "After excluding the one-time pre-tax gain of $17.1 million from the partial redemption of our investment in Lansing Trade Group, our full year adjusted results of $3.46 per share were the highest in the company's history. The company will begin to report adjusted earnings in the future, as we do for the first time below.

    "During the quarter we continued to grow. This is highlighted by the purchase of Auburn Bean & Grain (AB&G), which added six grain and four agronomy locations throughout central Michigan and serves as a nice geographic fit between our other Michigan assets and our Thompsons joint venture in Ontario," added Mr. Anderson. "The integration of AB&G is proceeding well, and its locations were additive to income in the fourth quarter. AB&G added grain storage capacity of about 18.1 million bushels, and 16,000 tons of dry and 3.7 million gallons of liquid nutrient capacity."

    Financial and Operating Highlights

    Net income for 2014 attributable to the company was a record $109.7 million, or $3.84 per diluted share, on revenues of $4.5 billion. Last year earnings were $89.9 million, or $3.18 per diluted share on revenues of $5.6 billion. Full-year 2014 adjusted earnings were $99.1 million, or $3.46 per diluted share, when the Lansing Trade Group gain was excluded. (See the Reconciliation to Adjusted Net Income Table for a discussion and reconciliation of income and adjusted income.)

    The company earned $25.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, or $0.89 per diluted share, on revenues of $1.3 billion. In the same three month period of 2013, the company reported net income of $30.7 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, on revenues of $1.6 billion.

  • Revenues were down this year within the company's agricultural businesses due to lower commodity prices. The majority of the decrease was within the Grain Group where the average price per bushel sold decreased by 28 percent, which more than offset the slight increase in bushels sold.
  • The harvest was protracted in a number of states in which the company does business, primarily due to weather conditions.
  • The ethanol plants benefitted from operational improvements made the past three years, with records being achieved for ethanol production, ethanol yields, and corn oil yields.
  • The Ethanol Group realized solid margins in 2014, however, fourth quarter margins were lower than the same period of the prior year.
  • The Andersons received $89.5 million in net cash distributions from its non-consolidated ethanol investments in 2014.
  • The distillers dried grain market, which was negatively impacted by a decline in the Chinese import market in the third quarter, rebounded late in the fourth quarter and it is again selling at levels significantly above 100 percent of corn value.
  • Fourth quarter volume for the Plant Nutrient Group was down approximately 19 percent due to a late harvest and poor weather conditions.
  • The Rail Group's income was down in 2014 due primarily to gains on railcar sales declining by $3.6 million, one-time gains in 2013 of $4.3 million from legal settlements, and an increase in freight and maintenance expense to move idle railcars into service, the benefits of which will be seen in future periods.
  • The Rail Group's utilization rate has increased for eight consecutive quarters and ended the year at 91.0 percent.
  • 2015 Outlook

    There are solid fundamentals supporting the company's core businesses going into 2015, although results will likely be below 2014 records, in part because the $17.1 million dollar pre-tax gain on the partial sale of Lansing Trade Group will not be repeated.

  • Corn acres to be planted in 2015 are estimated to be 88 to 89 million acres, which is down 2 to 3 percent from 2014. Bean acres to be planted are estimated to be roughly 85 million acres, which is very similar to or slightly higher than 2014. Assuming trend yields, this should create a good base for the company's grain business in 2015. Further, continued strong performance from the Grain Group's equity investments is anticipated.
  • Early 2015 ethanol margins are well below 2014 margins, and are expected to average lower for the full year. Factors impacting current margins include lower crude price, greater ethanol production and marginally rising ethanol stocks. On a positive note, higher gasoline demand, improved demand and prices for distillers dried grains in relation to corn price, an ample corn supply, and the potential for improved export demand as the year progresses could contribute to improved ethanol margins later in the year.
  • The anticipated acres to be planted creates a good environment for the Plant Nutrient Group to participate in as well. Additionally, if there is normal spring weather some of the volume lost in the fourth quarter of 2014 is expected to be regained in the first half of 2015.
  • The Rail Group is expected to have improved financial results as it will benefit from increased lease and utilization rates.
  • Conference Call

    The company will host a webcast on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 11:00 A.M. ET, to discuss its performance. To dial-in to the call, the number is 866-825-3209 (participant passcode is 28990476). It is recommended that you call 10 minutes before the conference call begins.

    To access the webcast: Click on the link: edge.media-server.com. Log on. Click on the phone icon at the bottom of the "webcast window" on the left side of the screen. Then, you will be provided with the conference call number and passcode. Click the gear set icon (left of the telephone icon) and select 'Live Phone' to synchronize the presentation with the audio on your phone. A replay of the call can also be accessed under the heading "Investor" on the company website at www.andersonsinc.com.

    Forward Looking Statements

    This release contains forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Without limitation, these risks include economic, weather and regulatory conditions, competition, and the risk factors set forth from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the company believes that the assumptions upon which the financial information and its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct.

    Company Description

    The Andersons, Inc. is a diversified company rooted in agriculture. Founded in Maumee, Ohio, in 1947, the company conducts business across North America in the grain, ethanol, and plant nutrient sectors, railcar leasing, turf and cob products, and consumer retailing. The Andersons, Inc. is located on the Internet at www.andersonsinc.com.




    The Andersons, Inc.

    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

    (Unaudited)










    Three months ended December 31,


    Twelve months ended December 31

    (in thousands, except per share data)

    2014


    2013


    2014


    2013

    Sales and merchandising revenues

    $ 1,271,768


    $ 1,584,266


    $ 4,540,071


    $ 5,604,574

    Cost of sales and merchandising revenues

    1,157,817


    1,474,689


    4,142,932


    5,239,349

    Gross profit

    113,951


    109,577


    397,139


    365,225

    Operating, administrative and general expenses

    94,884


    85,768


    318,881


    278,433

    Interest expense

    5,359


    4,253


    21,760


    20,860

    Other income:








    Equity in earnings of affiliates

    19,892


    28,714


    96,523


    68,705

    Other income, net

    6,031


    3,253


    31,125


    14,876

    Income before income taxes

    39,631


    51,523


    184,146


    149,513

    Income tax provision

    11,664


    16,904


    61,501


    53,811

    Net income

    27,967


    34,619


    122,645


    95,702

    Net income attributable to the noncontrolling interests

    2,075


    3,958


    12,919


    5,763

    Net income attributable to The Andersons, Inc.

    $ 25,892


    $ 30,661


    $ 109,726


    $ 89,939









    Per common share:








    Basic earnings attributable to The Andersons, Inc. common shareholders

    $ 0.89


    $ 1.09


    $ 3.85


    $ 3.20

    Diluted earnings attributable to The Andersons, Inc. common shareholders

    $ 0.89


    $ 1.08


    $ 3.84


    $ 3.18

    Dividends paid

    $ 0.1400


    $ 0.1100


    $ 0.4700


    $ 0.4300







    The Andersons, Inc.

    Reconciliation to Adjusted Net Income

    (Unaudited)













    Three months ended December 31,


    Twelve months ended December 31,

    (in thousands, except per share data)

    2014


    2013


    2014


    2013

    Net income attributable to The Andersons, Inc.

    $ 25,892


    $ 30,661


    $ 109,726


    $ 89,939

    Items impacting other income, net:








    Partial redemption of investment in Lansing Trade Group

    -


    -


    (10,656)


    -

    Total adjusting items

    -


    -


    (10,656)


    -

    Adjusted net income attributable to The Andersons, Inc.

    $ 25,892


    $ 30,661


    $ 99,070


    $ 89,939

















    Diluted earnings attributable to The Andersons, Inc. common shareholders

    $ 0.89


    $ 1.08


    $ 3.84


    $ 3.18









    Impact on diluted earnings per share

    -


    -


    (0.38)


    -

    Adjusted diluted earnings per share

    $ 0.89


    $ 1.08


    $ 3.46


    $ 3.18







    The Andersons, Inc.
    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (Unaudited)







    (in thousands)

    December 31, 2014


    December 31, 2013


    Assets





    Current assets:





    Cash and cash equivalents

    $ 114,704


    $ 309,085


    Restricted cash

    429


    408


    Accounts receivable, net

    183,059


    173,930


    Inventories

    795,655


    614,923


    Commodity derivative assets – current

    92,771


    71,319


    Deferred income taxes

    7,337


    4,931


    Other current assets

    60,492


    47,188


    Total current assets

    1,254,447


    1,221,784


    Other assets:





    Commodity derivative assets – noncurrent

    507


    246


    Other assets, net

    131,527


    118,010


    Pension asset

    -


    14,328


    Equity method investments

    232,513


    291,109



    364,547


    423,693


    Rail Group assets leased to others, net

    297,747


    240,621


    Property, plant and equipment, net

    453,607


    387,458


    Total assets

    $ 2,370,348


    $ 2,273,556







    Liabilities and equity





    Current liabilities:





    Short-term debt

    $ 2,166


    $ -


    Accounts payable for grain

    535,974


    592,183


    Other accounts payable

    170,849


    154,599


    Customer prepayments and deferred revenue

    99,617


    59,304


    Commodity derivative liabilities – current

    64,075


    63,954


    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

    78,610


    70,295


    Current maturities of long-term debt

    76,415


    51,998


    Total current liabilities

    1,027,706


    992,333







    Other long-term liabilities

    15,507


    15,386


    Commodity derivative liabilities – noncurrent

    3,318


    6,644


    Employee benefit plan obligations

    59,308


    39,477


    Long-term debt, less current maturities

    298,638


    375,213


    Deferred income taxes

    137,113


    120,082


    Total liabilities

    1,541,590


    1,549,135


    Total equity

    828,758


    724,421


    Total liabilities and equity

    $ 2,370,348


    $ 2,273,556










    View News Release Full Screen
    The Andersons, Inc.







    Segment Data






    (Unaudited)






















    (in thousands)

    Grain


    Ethanol


    Plant Nutrient


    Rail


    Turf & Specialty


    Retail


    Other


    Total

    Three months ended December 31, 2014
















    Revenues from external customers

    $ 867,521


    $ 171,326


    $ 137,790


    $ 31,221


    $ 24,940


    $ 38,970


    $ —


    $ 1,271,768

















    Gross profit

    53,464


    9,284


    18,877


    13,193


    7,734


    11,399





    113,951

















    Equity in earnings of affiliates

    7,102


    12,790

















    19,892

















    Other income, net

    4,483


    22


    69


    805


    92


    235


    325


    6,031

















    Income (loss) before income taxes

    24,024


    19,353


    381


    5,556


    181


    1,046


    (10,910)


    39,631

















    Income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interests

    (2)


    2,077

















    2,075

















    Operating income (loss) (a)

    $ 24,026


    $ 17,276


    $ 381


    $ 5,556


    $ 181


    $ 1,046


    $ (10,910)


    $ 37,556

















    Three months ended December 31, 2013
















    Revenues from external customers

    $ 1,124,265


    $ 197,032


    $ 170,732


    $ 32,306


    $ 22,557


    $ 37,374


    $ —


    $ 1,584,266

















    Gross profit

    44,570


    13,323


    21,979


    12,328


    6,542


    10,835





    109,577

















    Equity in earnings of affiliates

    8,182


    20,532

















    28,714

















    Other income (expense), net

    682


    (66)


    634


    987


    105


    185


    726


    3,253

















    Income (loss) before income taxes

    22,127


    30,577


    6,240


    6,171


    (1,369)


    (3,861)


    (8,362)


    51,523

















    Income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interest

    (3)


    3,961

















    3,958

















    Operating income (loss) (a)

    $ 22,130


    $ 26,616


    $ 6,240


    $ 6,171


    $ (1,369)


    $ (3,861)


    $ (8,362)


    $ 47,565


















    Grain


    Ethanol


    Plant Nutrient


    Rail


    Turf & Specialty


    Retail


    Other


    Total

    Twelve months ended December 31, 2014
















    Revenues from external customers

    $ 2,682,038


    $ 765,939


    $ 668,124


    $ 148,954


    $ 134,209


    $ 140,807


    $ —


    $ 4,540,071

















    Gross profit

    131,129


    48,057


    87,619


    59,762


    29,320


    41,252





    397,139

















    Equity in earnings of affiliates

    27,643


    68,880

















    96,523

















    Other income, net

    21,450


    223


    3,262


    3,094


    1,110


    955


    1,031


    31,125

















    Income (loss) before income taxes

    58,126


    105,186


    23,845


    31,445


    669


    (620)


    (34,505)


    184,146

















    Income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interests

    (10)


    12,929

















    12,919

















    Operating income (loss) (a)

    $ 58,136


    $ 92,257


    $ 23,845


    $ 31,445


    $ 669


    $ (620)


    $ (34,505)


    $ 171,227

















    Twelve months ended December 31, 2013
















    Revenues from external customers

    $ 3,617,943


    $ 831,965


    $ 708,654


    $ 164,794


    $ 140,512


    $ 140,706


    $ —


    $ 5,604,574

















    Gross profit

    118,517


    32,512


    86,682


    58,864


    29,289


    39,361





    365,225

















    Equity in earnings of affiliates

    33,122


    35,583

















    68,705

















    Other income, net

    2,120


    399


    1,093


    7,666


    690


    501


    2,407


    14,876

















    Income (loss) before income taxes

    46,794


    56,374


    27,275


    42,785


    4,744


    (7,534)


    (20,925)


    149,513

















    Income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interest

    (11)


    5,774

















    5,763

















    Operating income (loss) (a)

    $ 46,805


    $ 50,600


    $ 27,275


    $ 42,785


    $ 4,744


    $ (7,534)


    $ (20,925)


    $ 143,750

















    (a) Operating income (loss) for each Group is defined as net sales and merchandising revenues plus identifiable other income less all identifiable operating expenses, including interest expense for carrying working capital and long-term assets and is reported net of the noncontrolling interest share of income (loss).





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    To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-andersons-inc-reports-fourth-quarter--full-year-results-300034025.html

    SOURCE The Andersons, Inc.
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