ST. PAUL, Minn., July 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP), the nation's leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, today reported earnings of $649.6 million for the first three quarters of its 2015 fiscal year.

The earnings attributable to CHS for the period (Sept. 1, 2014 - May 31, 2015) represented a decrease of 26 percent from the $881.7 million reported for the first three quarters of fiscal 2014. Revenues for first nine months of fiscal 2015 were $26.6 billion, down 19 percent from $32.7 billion for the same period a year ago, primarily due to lower average prices for the refined energy products, grains and fertilizer that make up a significant portion of CHS business.

Earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 (March 1- May 31, 2015) were $178.1 million, down 53 percent from $379.5 million for the same period of fiscal 2014. The third quarter of fiscal 2014 included a one-time gain of $108.8 million attributed to the establishment of the Ardent Mills flour milling joint venture in May 2014. Fiscal 2015 third quarter revenues of $8.7 billion declined 28 percent from the same three-month period a year ago.

For the first nine months of fiscal year 2015, Energy segment earnings declined primarily due to significantly reduced refining margins and scheduled maintenance at its McPherson, Kan., refinery, along with, to a lesser extent, decreased propane earnings.

CHS Ag segment earnings through the third quarter also declined. This decrease was attributed to lower earnings from logistics within grain marketing compared with the first three quarters of fiscal 2014, as well as lower grain and wholesale crop nutrients volumes. In addition, through the third quarter of fiscal 2015, CHS retail facilities experienced lower agronomy margins. Earnings for CHS renewable fuels marketing and production operations declined due to lower market prices which resulted in lower marketing commissions; those lower earnings were partially offset by the 2014 acquisition of a Rochelle, Ill., ethanol plant.

CHS reports results for its business services operations and its two food processing-related joint ventures under the Corporate and Other category which reported lower earnings through the third quarter of fiscal 2015 primarily due to the one-time gain in fiscal 2014 associated with the formation of the Ardent Mills milling joint venture.

In addition to reporting fiscal 2015 third quarter results, CHS announced today that the company will not issue non-qualified equity to eligible cooperative member-owners as part of its patronage distribution for fiscal 2015.

CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS, a Fortune 100 company, supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain marketing services, animal feed, food and food ingredients, along with business solutions including insurance, financial and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex(®) brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products.

This document and other CHS Inc. publicly available documents contain, and CHS officers and representatives may from time to time make, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Report Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on CHS current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its businesses, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of CHS control. CHS actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause CHS actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements are discussed or identified in CHS public filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" discussion in Item 1A of CHS Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2014. Any forward-looking statements made by CHS in this document are based only on information currently available to CHS and speak only as of the date on which the statement is made. CHS undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.



                        CHS Inc. Earnings

                           By segment

                         (in millions $)


                        For the Three              For the Nine
                         Months Ended              Months Ended

                         May 31,                May 31,

                        2015               2014               2015   2014
                        ----               ----               ----   ----



    Energy             $83.3              197.7              374.6  553.2

    Ag                  61.7              117.2              262.0  274.3

    Corporate and
     Other              25.5              124.7               60.0  172.1

    Income before
     income taxes      170.5              439.6              696.6  999.6

     Income taxes      (7.3)              59.7               47.5  116.1
                        ----               ----               ----  -----

     Net income        177.8              379.9              649.1  883.5

     Net income
      attributable to
      non-controlling
      interests        (0.3)               0.4              (0.5)   1.8
                        ----                ---               ----    ---

     Net income
      attributable to
      CHS Inc.        $178.1              379.5              649.6  881.7
                      ======              =====              =====  =====

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SOURCE CHS Inc.