Trading house Louis Dreyfus has reported a drop in net profits from $160m to $100m in H1 2018, citing its hedging strategy on soyabean crush margins which is expected to improve performance later this year. The departure of both Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena, who had served as CEO for three years, and Armand Lumens, who was CFO for just 18 months, reignited speculation regarding the family-owned firm, which has seen a series of management shakeups and faced growing financial pressures. Group sales were steady at $18.8bn over the six-month period, whereby a 6.3% slip in volume was offset by higher pricing. The group said it expects soybean prices will remain low for some time and that price volatility could continue into 2019.
Trading house Louis Dreyfus has reported a drop in net profits from $160m to $100m in H1 2018, citing its hedging strategy on soyabean crush margins which is expected to improve performance later this year. Group sales were steady at $18.8bn over the six-month period, whereby a 6.3% slip in volume was offset by higher pricing. The group said it expects soybean prices will remain low for some time and that price volatility could continue into 2019.