ADM Plans to Cut Up to 700 Jobs
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Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. is weighing asset divestitures as part of a plan to slash costs as the crop trading giant faces a downturn in profits.
The Chicago-based company is looking at businesses that are seeing deteriorating demand and excess capacity for potential closures and deals, CEO Juan Luciano said during an earnings call Tuesday with analysts.
ADM ranks No. 77 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America and No. 11 in the agriculture/food processing sector.
“We are considering a phased approach to areas of potential simplification,” Luciano said. The company has identified nearly $2 billion in “portfolio opportunities,” he added.
ADM also said in a statement that it would cut between 600 and 700 jobs globally this year as part of a plan to achieve up to $750 million in cost savings over the next three to five years. It’s targeting as much as $300 million in savings for 2025.
The move, which follows in the footsteps of larger rival Cargill Inc., comes after a second straight year of profit declines as a rebound in grain inventories weighed on prices and reduced traders’ negotiating power. ADM has also been faced with a crisis of its own, which includes an accounting investigation that has wiped billions of dollars in market value.
Luciano
Cargill ranks No. 21 on the Transport Topics list of agriculture and food processing private carriers.
“The external environment continues to pose uncertainties and challenges,” Luciano said.
ADM shares slumped as much as 5.1% in New York before trimming some of the losses.
The push for cost savings comes as profits are expected to decline again this year. ADM projects full-year adjusted earnings per share in the range of $4 to $4.75 a share for 2025. The midpoint guidance is down from $4.74 a share in 2024 and also trails the average analyst projection of $4.66 a share.
Adjusted earnings were $1.14 a share for the three months ended December, down 16% from a year earlier. While that was in line with the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, it’s the lowest fourth-quarter result since 2018.
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