CHS reports $266.5 million first quarter earnings for fiscal 2016

ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP), the nation's leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, today reported net income of $266.5 million for the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year.

Earnings for the period Sept. 1 – Nov. 30, 2015, declined 30 percent from the same period of fiscal 2015. The decrease was primarily attributed to lower margins for much of the company's energy and agricultural businesses. Revenues for the quarter were $7.7 billion, down from $9.5 billion for the same period in fiscal 2015, largely due to lower selling prices for the energy and grain products which make up a significant portion of CHS business.

Fiscal 2016 first quarter earnings for the company's Energy segment declined 31 percent, driven primarily by decreased refining margins as well as declines in CHS lubricants and transportation businesses. These were partially offset by increased propane earnings.

First quarter fiscal 2016 earnings for the CHS Ag segment – which includes its domestic and global grain and crop nutrients businesses, renewable fuels, local retail operations and processing and food ingredients – declined 50 percent over the same period a year ago. This was primarily due to lower logistics performance and margins within CHS grain marketing business, along with decreased grain volumes and margins for the company's country elevator locations.

Earnings within CHS wholesale crop nutrients business declined in the first quarter of fiscal 2016, also due to decreased margins. Renewable fuels manufacturing, marketing and distribution were lower for the period due to lower ethanol margins which were partially offset by a manufacturing volume increase from a late fiscal 2015 ethanol plant acquisition. CHS processing and food ingredients operations reported increased year-over-year earnings for the quarter primarily due to higher soybean crushing margins.

CHS reports earnings for its business services and its food-related joint ventures under Corporate and Other. Combined earnings for CHS Hedging, CHS Capital and CHS Insurance businesses increased slightly during the first quarter of fiscal 2016 compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Earnings for the quarter also increased over the same period a year ago for the CHS share of food manufacturer and distributor Ventura Foods, LLC, but declined for its share of earnings from Ardent Mills wheat milling joint venture.

CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS, a Fortune 100 company, supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain marketing services, animal feed, food and food ingredients, along with business solutions including insurance, financial and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex^® brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products.

This document and other CHS Inc. publicly available documents contain, and CHS officers and representatives may from time to time make, "forward–looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Report Act of 1995. Forward–looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward–looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on CHS current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its businesses, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward–looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of CHS control. CHS actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward–looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward–looking statements. Important factors that could cause CHS actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward–looking statements are discussed or identified in CHS public filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" discussion in Item 1A of CHS Annual Report on Form 10–K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015. Any forward–looking statements made by CHS in this document are based only on information currently available to CHS and speak only as of the date on which the statement is made. CHS undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward–looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE CHS Inc.

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