Cargill warned of a lasting hangover from the global recession has it unveiled a 69% drop in fourth-quarter earnings, which helped drag annual results lower for the first time in eight years.

Greg Page, the US agribusiness giant's chief executive, said he expected the effects of the world downturn "to persist for some time".

"The path to economic recovery may well be uneven," he said.

The comments followed a "considerable" slowdown in Cargill earnings since the winter, following record results for the June-to-November period.

"The year was a tale of two halves," Mr Page said.

'Downturn cushion'

In the fourth quarter, earnings slumped to $327m from 1.05bn a year before, and Mr Page said the result would have been worse but for the group's breadth of interests, which stretch from a 64% stake in fertilizer giant Mosaic to being the world's biggest trader of farm commodities.

"Operating in many industries and in many countries allowed us to cushion some of the downturn by serving areas of growth," he said, singling out developing countries that suffered smaller drops in economic output.

Costs cuts helped the group's agriculture services and food ingredients divisions raise profits in the fourth quarter.

However, its origination and processing business suffered a drop in profits, as did the industrial division which includes the Mosaic stake, while the risk management and financial operations reported another loss.

For the full year, earnings dropped 16% to $3.33bn on revenues down 3% at $116.6bn.