Andersons Profit Sinks 37 Percent, But Beats View

MAUMEE, Ohio (AP) — Andersons Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter profit tumbled 37 percent, but handily beat Wall Street's expectations, as higher grain income partially countered the steep decline in its rail leasing business.

Shares leaped 14.9 percent, or $2.60, to $20.10 in after-hours electronic trading. Earlier, the stock closed down 14 cents in the regular session to close at $17.50.

For the first quarter, the company earned nearly $5 million, or 27 cents per share, compared with $7.8 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier.

Sales slipped 2 percent to $697.4 million from $713 million a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 6 cents per share on $579.1 million in sales.

The company said its grain and ethanol unit posted operating income of $5.7 million in the quarter, compared with $2.2 million a year earlier. Its rail business operating income was cut to just $900,000 from $6.4 million last year because of the steep falloff in demand for rail cars as the recession persists.

Andersons, a diversified agricultural and transportation company, said it wouldn't give an earnings prediction for the full year because of "the unprecedented pressures facing the overall economy" and other factors such as weather.