January 21, 2008

Canada's Viterra posts record earnings after Agricore United acquisition

Canada's Viterra earnings reached a record US$106.1 million for the 15 months ended October 31, 2007, hugely attributed to the acquisition of Agricore United (AU).

Earnings only reached US$531,000 for the 12 months ended July 31 of the prior fiscal year.

On a trailing 12-month basis, net earnings reached US$111.2 million ($0.80 earnings per share) for the period ended October 31, 2007 against earnings of US$3.1 million (US$0.03 earnings per share) for the same 12-month period in 2006, gaining an increase of more than US$108 million.

Mayo Schmidt, president and CEO, said that 2007 was a year of transformation for the company as they diversified business profile; we have enhanced the scope and geography of our operations, and have assembled a highly efficient network of agricultural assets.

Viterra's grain shipments for the 12 months ended October 31, 2007 of 12.5 million tonnes improved by 4.3 million tonnes over the same period of the previous year, mainly a result of the additional shipments through AU facilities in 2007.

Higher shipments, combined with improved grain margins of US$24.79 per tonne in the 12 months ended October 31, 2007 (2006 - US$20.05 per tonne), contributed to an overall US$94.3 million increase in EBITDA in the Grain Handling and Marketing segment during this period. Segment EBITDA for the 12 months ended October 31, 2007 was US$162.9 million, compared to US$68.6 million in the same period of 2006.

Viterra is Canada's premier agribusiness built on the foundation of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc. and gricore United.

The company has extensive operations and distribution capabilities across Canada, US and Japan.