Shares of Archer Daniels Midland fell in pre-market trading Monday as the agribusiness giant said its chief financial officer has been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into accounting practices in its nutrition sector.
ADM ADM shares,
Down 12% in pre-market action. The stock is down 19% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 SPX is up 22%.
ADM said CFO Vikram Luther has been placed on immediate administrative leave following a “voluntary” SEC request for documents. The Chicago-based company said outside advisors and the audit committee of the board are examining accounting practices in its nutrition segment, including transactions between segments.
Ismail Roig, the 56-year-old executive who was head of EMEA operations as well as head of animal nutrition, has been named interim CFO.
During the first nine months of the year, nutrition accounted for $468 million of the company's $4.67 billion operating profit. The unit produces flavours, colours, specialty ingredients and nutritional supplements. This year it faced difficulties in the plant protein market, an explosion at a soybean processing plant, which affected production and the restructuring of the animal feed unit.
ADM said all forward guidance on the sector has been withdrawn as it delayed publishing fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results.
The company said it expects to generate more than $6.90 in adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal year, compared to the $7.27 that analysts expected. ADM said its agricultural services, oilseeds and carbohydrate solutions units will report results in line with expectations it made in the third quarter.
