CHS posts fiscal 2016 earnings of $424.2 million

Within the Ag segment, earnings for the company's Country Operations local retail businesses declined primarily due to lower grain margins. This was partially offset by higher grain volumes in fiscal 2016 compared with fiscal 2015. Lower margins also contributed to a decline in earnings for the CHS wholesale crop nutrients business. CHS grain marketing earnings also decreased in fiscal 2016, primarily due to lower margins which were partially offset by higher volumes. CHS Processing and Food Ingredients saw lower year-over-year earnings for fiscal 2016, primarily due to costs associated with the sale and impairment of assets, along with a specific customer receivable and, to a lesser extent, lower soybean crushing margins. The company's renewable fuels marketing and production operations also declined from fiscal 2016 as a result of lower ethanol market prices, also partially offset by increased volumes. 

CHS recorded fiscal 2016 income before taxes of $34.1 million, net of allocated expenses, from its February 2016 investment in CF Nitrogen reported in the company's Nitrogen Production segment. In addition, CHS recorded fiscal 2016 pre-tax earnings of $64.8 million, net of allocated expenses, for its ownership in Ventura Foods, LLC, under its Foods segment; these results had previously been reported under the Corporate and Other heading. Within the Corporate and Other category, CHS reported slightly higher earnings for fiscal 2016 for its business services operations, including the company's insurance, risk management and financing businesses, while year-over-year income from its ownership in the Ardent Mills, LLC, wheat milling joint venture declined.

In fiscal 2016, based on fiscal 2015 earnings, CHS returned $515.7 million to its owners as cash patronage, equity redemptions, preferred stock and dividends on preferred stock to its owners. Based on fiscal 2016 results, the company expects to return about $337 million to owners during fiscal 2017.

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, 2016. 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.

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SOURCE CHS Inc.