Cargill reported $763 million in earnings from continuing operations in the fiscal 2011 third quarter ended Feb. 28, up 30 percent from $588 million in the same period a year ago. The company recorded $342 million attributable to its majority investment in The Mosaic Company – income now classified as earnings from discontinued operations following the two companies' Jan. 18, 2011, announced agreement and upcoming closing of a split-off and orderly distribution of Cargill's 64 percent ownership stake in Mosaic. Earnings from discontinued operations in the year-ago period were $310 million, of which $141 million was attributable to Mosaic. Cargill's third-quarter net earnings totaled $1.11 billion, up 23 percent from $898 million in the prior year.
In the first nine months, earnings from continuing operations were $2.29 billion, a 47 percent increase from a year ago. The addition of $1.19 billion in earnings from discontinued operations brought Cargill's nine-month net income to $3.48 billion compared with $1.91 billion in the year-ago period.