Cargill revealed a further deterioration in its performance in the March-to-May period – its worst quarter in at least a decade – as it unveiled a drop in full-year profits  to levels "below expectations" despite spending $4bn on acquisitions.

Greg Page, the Cargill chief executive, acknowledged that the US agribusiness giant's performance in the year to May had not lived "up to our expectations" as it unveiled a 56% tumble in earnings to $1.17bn.

The decline, despite a 12.1% rise to $133.9bn in revenues, and acquisitions including feed group Provimi, reflected a slump in earnings in the March-to-May period.

At $73m, earnings for the quarter were 82% down year on year, and fell below the $100m in the September-to-November period which represented the worst quarter since late 2001

'Did not trade as well'

Mr Page, while failing to detail reasons behind the fourth-quarter decline, said that the full-year decline reflected it falling short in its "long-standing strengths" in trading.

"We did not trade as well in this year's markets," a factor reflecting their vulnerability to changes in political factors, such as twists in the eurozone debt crisis, which were difficult to predict rather than crop fundamentals.

"Cyclical trends in the global soybean processing and North American beef industries also were in play, decreasing margins in parts of Cargill's oilseed processing and beef processing operations," Mr Page said.

The group - which last week backed calls for curbs on ethanol output to free up corn for livestock feeders - flagged earnings in animal protein operations "well below last year's", as it, like other meat processors, found itself squeezed between high cattle prices and a reluctance by retailers to pay up for beef.

In origination and processing results were "significantly lower", in a year when elevated prices of crops such as soybeans and rapeseed hurt oilseed crushers.

Divisional record

However, Cargill achieved improved results in its food ingredients division, lifted by the robust margins for products such as starches, which were highlighted last week by Ingredion, formerly Corn Products International, in quarterly results.

"Fourth-quarter food ingredients earnings were somewhat lower than last year's level, but the group posted record earnings for the full year, Cargill said, adding that "performance particularly strong in sweeteners, starches, specialty oils and cocoa worldwide, and in staple foods in several emerging markets".

"We are confident about Cargill's ability to grow profitably, to help our customers to do the same, and to help build a more food-secure world," Mr Page said.