CHS Reports Nine-Month Earnings of $754.8 Million

ST. PAUL, Minn., July 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CHS Inc. (Nasdaq: CHSCP), a leading energy, grains and foods company, today reported income of $754.8 million through the third quarter of its 2011 fiscal year.

Earnings attributed to CHS operations through the third quarter (Sept. 1, 2010 – May 31, 2011) increased nearly 117 percent over $348.1 million for the same period in fiscal 2010.  Revenues through the third quarter of fiscal 2011 reached $26.3 billion, up from $18.6 billion through the third quarter of fiscal 2010, reflecting continued higher values for the energy, grain and crop nutrients products CHS handles.

For the third quarter (March 1 – May 31, 2011) CHS posted income of $358.5 million, compared with $145.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.  Revenues for the quarter were $10.5 billion, up from $6.6 billion a year ago.

Year-to-date earnings for the company's Energy segment reflected strong margins for its petroleum refining operations driven by global market conditions, along with strong performance for its renewable fuels marketing business.  

The company's Ag Business segment – consisting of its grain marketing, crop nutrients, local retail operations and oilseed processing businesses – also recorded strong results attributed to both increased grain demand and fertilizer activity. Ag Business earnings also included a gain of $119.7 million on the sale of the company's share of Multigrain, AG, a Brazilian agribusiness joint venture.

Earnings were also strong for the CHS financing business, along with the company's Ventura Foods, LLC, vegetable-oil based food and Horizon Milling, LLC, wheat milling joint ventures.  Those results are reported under Corporate and Other.

CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a diversified energy, grains and foods company committed to providing the essential resources that enrich lives around the world. A Fortune 100 company, CHS is owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives, along with thousands of preferred stockholders across the United States. CHS supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain, livestock 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. CHS is listed on the NASDAQ at CHSCP.

This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligations to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. For a discussion of additional factors that may materially affect management's estimates and predictions, please view the CHS Inc. annual report filed on Form 10-K for the year ended Aug. 31, 2010, which can be found on the Securities and Exchange Commission web site (www.sec.gov) or on the CHS web site www.chsinc.com.

SOURCE CHS Inc.