CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US — Exceptional growth in the company’s Nutrition business helped propel a first-quarter earnings surge at ADM.

Net earnings attributable to ADM in the first quarter ended March 31 totaled $1.05 billion, equal to $1.86 per share on the common stock, up 53% from $689 million, or $1.22 per share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenues for the first quarter increased 25%, climbing to $23.65 billion from $18.89 billion.

“I’m very proud of how our team lived our culture and fulfilled our purpose over the last quarter, as they continued to serve the world’s need for nutrition in a dynamic global environment,” said Juan Luciano, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our first-quarter financial results, including adjusted earnings per share of $1.90, reflect an extension and amplification of the factors that drove our 2021 performance: great execution by our team, including exceptional growth in Nutrition and effective risk management; a tighter supply environment, especially with the smaller South American crop; and robust and resilient demand. Importantly, I’m also very appreciative of how our company has rallied to support our colleagues in Ukraine and the country’s agriculture industry.

“Looking forward, we expect reduced crop supplies — caused by the weak Canadian canola crop, the short South American crops, and now the disruptions in the Black Sea region — to drive continued tightness in global grain markets for the next few years. Longer term, markets continue to reflect the importance of the enduring global trends that are fueling performance across our portfolio by driving demand for our products. And within ADM, our productivity and innovation efforts are continuing to help us deliver on the evolving needs of our customers. Considering these factors, we expect 2022 results to exceed 2021’s.”

Operating profit in the Ag Services and Oilseeds segment increased 30% in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, climbing to $1.01 billion from $777 million. Ag services profit rose 23% during the quarter to $258 million, while crushing profit increased 12% to $428 million from $382 million.

ADM said global trade results were driven by strong performance in destination marketing and global ocean freight. Crushing results, meanwhile, benefited from a strong global margin environment driven by robust protein and vegetable oil demand, ADM said.

Operating profit in the Carbohydrate Solutions segment increased 22% in the first quarter to $317 million. Starches and sweeteners profit increased 42% during the quarter, climbing to $316 million from $222 million. Vantage Corn Processors posted a profit of $1 million in the quarter, down sharply from $37 million in the same period a year ago.

ADM said the starches and sweeteners subsegment profit was driven by higher corn co-product revenues and improved citric acid profits in North America, higher volumes and margins in EMEA, and higher volumes and margins in wheat milling.

In the Nutrition segment operating profit increased 23% to $189 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, up from $154 million a year ago. Within the segment, human nutrition profit improved to $141 million from $128 million, while animal nutrition increased to $48 million from $26 million.

“Flavors continued to deliver solid revenue growth, offset by some higher costs,” ADM said. “Strong sales growth in alternative proteins, including accretion from our Sojaprotein acquisition, and positive currency timing impacts in South America, offset some higher operating costs to help deliver better year-over-year results in Specialty Ingredients. Health and Wellness was also higher year over year, powered by probiotics, including contributions from our late-2021 Deerland Probiotics acquisition, and robust demand for fiber.”