Dive Brief:

• Grain trader Archer-Daniel-Midland said it would eliminate up to 700 jobs and weigh potential asset divestitures as it addresses weaker demand in its nutrition segment and faces tougher competition in the ingredients space.
• ADM said the layoffs would generate up to $750 million in savings during the next three to five years. The company has also identified roughly $2 billion in additional opportunities to streamline its portfolio.
• The cost-cutting plan comes as the commodities giant reports a 28% year-over-year drop in operating profits for fiscal year 2024. ADM said the decline was driven by lower demand in the nutrition segment, combined with uncertainties in U.S. biofuel policy.

Dive Insight:

Abundant grain supply and declining commodity prices have challenged crop traders’ margins. ADM faces additional challenges as its troubled nutrition unit struggles to recover from manufacturing delays and an accounting probe that has shaken investor confidence.

ADM said nutrition profits were roughly flat in the fourth quarter due in part to declining demand for plant-based protein and lower texturant prices. The company also has struggled to fully restart production at its main soybean oil and specialty ingredient manufacturing facility in Decatur, Illinois, following a plant explosion in 2023.

As ADM looks for opportunities to downsize its portfolio, CEO Juan Luciano says it will target segments of the business that have seen “performance challenges, deteriorating demand and or excess capacity that do not have a clear path to improvement.”

In 2023, the ingredients provider cut back on a $300 million investment in plant-based protein as demand faltered. Despite the headwinds, ADM has remained active in the ingredients segment and acquired two flavor manufacturers later that year.

ADM is banking on those acquisitions to help its nutrition segment, saying both flavor businesses it purchased have seen strong performance. The Decatur plant is expected to come back online in the second quarter, which will help margins.

Profits across the nutrition segment were down 10% in fiscal year 2024, with human nutrition dropping 22%.

ADM is in the middle of overhauling its accounting practices after a probe revealed the company overstated profits in the nutrition unit and misled investors on the segment’s growth prospects.

Last week, ADM named former Cargill executive Carrie Nichol as its chief accounting officer. She will work with CFO Monish Patolawala to help improve internal controls and remediate material weaknesses.

“It’s a big self-help agenda,” Patolawala said of ADM’s turnaround plans. “We know the environment that we are going into 2025. And I think the team is quite confident that we can execute this cost-out plan that we have got over the next three to five years.”