425
Filed by Corn Products International, Inc.
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Subject Company: Corn Products International, Inc.
Commission file Number for Registration Statement
on Form S-4: 333-152781
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This material contains forward-looking statements, including, among other
statements, statements regarding the proposed merger between Corn Products
International, Inc. and Bunge Limited, and the anticipated consequences and
benefits of such transaction. Statements made in the future tense, and words
such as anticipate, expect, project, continue, believe, plan,
estimate, intend, will, may and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current
expectations, but are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which
are difficult to predict and are beyond the control of Corn Products and Bunge.
Relevant risks and uncertainties include those referenced in Corn Products and
Bunges filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) which
can be obtained as described in Additional Information below. Risks and
uncertainties relating to the proposed merger include: required regulatory
approvals may not be obtained in a timely manner, if at all; the proposed
merger may not be consummated; the anticipated benefits of the proposed merger,
including synergies, may not be realized; and the integration of Corn Products
operations with those of Bunge may be materially delayed or may be more costly
or difficult than expected. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the
forward-looking statements, and therefore should be carefully considered. Corn
Products assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a
result of new information or future events or developments.
Additional Information
This material is not a substitute for the preliminary joint proxy
statement/prospectus or any other documents that Corn Products and Bunge have
filed or will file with the SEC in connection with the proposed merger.
Investors and securityholders are urged to carefully read the preliminary joint
proxy statement/prospectus and any other relevant documents filed or to be
filed by Corn Products or Bunge, including the definitive joint proxy
statement/prospectus when it becomes available, because they contain or will
contain important information. The preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus
is, and other documents filed or to be filed by Corn Products and Bunge with
the SEC are or will be, available free of charge at the SECs web site
(www.sec.gov), from Corn Products by directing a request to Corn Products
International, Inc., 5 Westbrook Corporate Center, Westchester, Illinois 60154,
Attention: Investor Relations, by accessing Bunges website at www.bunge.com
under the tab About Bunge and then under the heading Investor Information,
and from Bunge by directing a request to Bunge Limited, 50 Main Street, White
Plains, New York 10606, Attention: Investor Relations.
Corn Products, Bunge and their respective directors, executive officers and
other employees may be deemed to be
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products
International Earnings Conference Call
participants in a solicitation of proxies
from the securityholders of Corn Products or Bunge in connection with the
proposed merger. Information about Corn Products directors and executive
officers is available in Corn Products proxy statement, dated April 4, 2008,
for its 2008 annual meeting of stockholders and in Corn Products most recent
filing on Form 10-K. Information about Bunges directors and executive officers
is available in Bunges proxy statement, dated April 16, 2008, for its 2008
annual meeting of shareholders and in Bunges most recent filing on Form 10-K.
Additional information about the interests of potential participants is
included in the preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus referred to above.
Continue
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
David Prichard
Corn Products International, Inc. VP, IR
Cheryl Beebe
Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
Sam Scott
Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS
David Driscoll
Citi Investment Research Analyst
Vincent Andrews
Morgan Stanley Analyst
Ann Gurkin
Davenport & Company Analyst
Christine McCracken
Cleveland Research Company Analyst
Heather Jones
BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Ken Zaslow
BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Christopher Bledsoe
Barclays Capital Analyst
Christina
McGlone
Deutsche Bank Analyst
PRESENTATION
Operator
Welcome to the Corn Products 2008 third quarter conference call. This call is being recorded.
At this time, Ill turn the call over to the Vice President of Investor Relations, Mr. David
Prichard. Please go ahead, sir.
David Prichard - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, IR
Thank you, operator, and good morning to everyone. Welcome to Corn Products Internationals
conference call to discuss our 2008 third quarter and nine-month financial results released earlier
today. Im Dave Prichard, Vice President of Investor Relations for Corn Products International.
Joining me today to lead the call, as usual, are Sam Scott, our Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer, and Cheryl Beebe, our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Now, this is
an open conference call simultaneously broadcast on our website at www.cornproducts.com. The charts
for our presentation this morning can be viewed and downloaded from our website and they are always
available about 60 minutes ahead of our conference call. Those of you using the website broadcast
mode for this conference call are in listen-only mode. Sam Scott and Cheryl Beebe will deliver this
mornings presentations and they will indicate as they move from chart to chart, so those of you
using our slides from the website can easily follow along through the presentation.
Now, I have just shifted to chart two, which is our agenda. Cheryl Beebe will present the
financials for the third quarter and nine months with appropriate analysis and flavor and then
briefly review our 2008 outlook. Following that, Sam Scott will comment on our companys business
model success to date and product expansion activities before we move to your questions. Ive now
gone to chart three, which is our forward-looking statement. Our comments within this presentation
may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted
in those forward-looking statements and Corn Products International is under no obligation to
update them in the future, as or if,
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Financial. |
|
Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
circumstances change. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those discussed during todays conference call or in this mornings earnings
press release can be found in the companys most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K and
reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.
Finally, statistical and financial information and reconciliations of non-GAAP numbers from this
presentation are also available on our website at www.cornproducts.com. And as you will see, they
are included as an appendix to this mornings slide presentation. With that, Im now pleased to
turn the conference call over to our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Cheryl Beebe.
Cheryl?
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
Thank you, Dave. Good morning, everyone. Before I go directly to the charts, I would like to
add a little color to the quarter. As you can see from the press release, the numbers this quarter
were quite strong, better than what we had been expecting for the third quarter. To reflect this
performance, we have raised full year guidance by $0.25. The better-than-expected results came from
a combination of better price/mix and stronger foreign currencies. We would not expect to have a
repeat of this performance going forward into the fourth quarter. The implied fourth quarter
earnings per share guidance is between $0.50 and $0.70 and reflects our fourth quarter expectations
of higher gross corn costs, lower co-product values and volatile currencies. With the revised
guidance we would expect to deliver another record year. Now on to the charts.
Im starting with the summary income statement for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. Net sales
are up 24% representing an increase of $207 million. Gross profit increased 44% or $62 million.
Gross corn costs were up almost 30%. The stronger co-product pricing significantly offset this
increase. Total energy costs were up about 9%. Gross profit margins expanded from 16.2% to 18.8%
representing a 260-basis point improvement.
Operating expenses were up 8%, or $5 million. As a percent of net sales, operating expenses
declined to 6.2% from 7% last year. Included in other income this quarter are two items, an
insurance recovery of $4 million and a $3 million gain from a land sale. Net financing costs at $10
million remained basically unchanged from a year ago. Weighted average borrowing costs were up
about $1.3 million versus last year. Average debt outstanding for the quarter versus last year was
up about $22 million. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 34.9% versus 33.1% last year and
reflects the changes in operating mix and one-time discrete items. Net income increased 72% or $37
million from last year. Weighted average shares outstanding in the quarter were 76.3 million
shares, down slightly from 77 million last year. Diluted earnings per share increased 74% to $1.15
from $0.66 last year.
Turning to chart six, net sales by geographic segment; we see all three regions contributed to the
net sales increase of 24%. North Americas net sales increased 22%. South America increased 33%,
and Asia-Africa was up 13%. North America contributed about $118 million out of the total companys
net sales increase of $207 million, or about 57%. South America contributed $75 million or 36% of
the increase, and Asia-Africa contributed about $14 million, or 7%.
Turning to the next chart, seven, we can see the net sales increase of 22%, or $118 million, in
North America was driven by strong price/mix. On a dollar basis, this represents about $123
million. Volume was down 1%, or about $5 million, and the impact from currencies was negligible.
South Americas net sales increase of $75 million, or 33% was led by strong positive price/mix of
roughly $45 million, followed by stronger currencies of about $27 million and volume was up
slightly. Asia-Africas net sales increase of $14 million was also favorably impacted by strong
positive price/mix, which represented about $35 million in net sales. This performance was offset
by weaker currencies for about $16 million and lower volumes for about $5 million.
On to operating income, chart eight, North Americas operating income increased 80% or $47 million,
South America, up 68% or $18 million, Asia-Africa, up about 1%. Corporate expenses are up $5
million to $11 million and primarily reflect the impact of stronger currencies, as well as higher
variable compensation costs. The next chart is the estimated source of the diluted earnings per
share for the quarter. Changes from operations contributed $0.52, $0.50 from margins, and $0.02
from stronger foreign currency values. Nonoperating changes reflect negative $0.03 for the higher
effective tax rate and $0.01 for the lower share count offset by the negative $0.01 for higher
minority interest. Moving on to the nine-month results with chart 10, we see net sales at $3
billion, up 22%, or $548 million from last year. Gross profit margins are up 70 basis points, while
gross profit dollars are up 27% or $121 million.
Operating expenses are up 13%, or $24 million. Operating income grew 39%, or $104 million from last
year. Financing costs are down 27%, or roughly $9 million, reflecting lower borrowing costs and a
foreign exchange gain of approximately $6 million. The estimated effective tax rate for the year is
34.5% versus 33.3% last year. Net income is up 46% to $221 million, or an increase of $69 million.
Average shares outstanding for
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Financial. |
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
the nine months ended September 30th were 76 million versus 76.7 million last year. Diluted
earnings per share for the nine months is $2.90, up 46% from last years $1.98.
Chart 11 highlights the cash flows for the nine months ended September 30th. Cash provided by
operating activities is $16 million and reflects the change in working capital of $293 million. The
working capital increase reflects the decrease in the margin accounts and the higher receivables
and inventory values. While we expect receivables and inventory values to decline in the fourth
quarter, we are not expecting the margin accounts to change. Our futures positions are reflective
of our booked business and are similar to the number of contracts held at December 31. The change
in the margin accounts is reflective of the dramatic drop in corn market prices. Year-to-date, we
have spent $160 million on capital projects and would expect the full year spending to be between
$200 million and $250 million. Dividends paid equal $31 million.
Chart 12 shows the key metrics for the period ended September 30th. Debt to capitalization remains
conservative at 29.4%. Debt to EBITDA on a trailing 12-month basis remains strong at 1.2 times.
Operating working capital is $482 million, or 12.2% of net sales, and reflects the change in the
margin accounts receivables and inventories. Net debt at $612 million reflects the increase in debt
to fund working capital. Total debt at September 30th was $728 million and cash was $116 million.
I will end the presentation with a few comments on the 2008 outlook. With the raised guidance, we
expect EPS growth for 2008 versus 2007 to be in the range of 31% to 39%. Net sales should reach $4
billion and our return on capital employed should exceed our target of 8.5%. This should be the
third consecutive year of growth in net sales, gross profit, operating income, net income, and
earnings per share. Our business model has consistently performed well in these challenging years.
With that, I will turn the call over to Sam.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thanks, Cheryl, and good morning to all. Now, turning to chart 14, our strong third quarter
results and our outlook for our best year ever in 2008 after two consecutive record years in 2006
and 2007 reinforces the strength of our business model and core competencies in what continues to
be an unprecedented global environment of volatile commodity costs and more recently, economic
uncertainty and softness. Managing through the risk on high corn costs is a constant focus at our
company. As most of you know, we address commodity risks on an individual country basis using a
combination of risk management procedures. In North America, principally the US and Canada, we have
both firm price and grain-related contracts that are covered by our hedging policies. We also have
a mix of annual and multiyear contracts.
As we have previously told you in the past few years, we have shifted a meaningful portion of our
US and Canadian book of business to some form of grain-related contract where the customer bears
the corn risk. In addition tight corn refining utilization rates in North America have been and
remain important to the success of our business model. We continue to believe corn refining
utilization rates today remain relatively high, providing a good environment for negotiating new
contracts, which we are doing right now for 2009. There is also no new capacity coming on in the
North American market. Internationally and primarily in South America, our market positions have so
far enabled us to pass through increased corn costs in a reasonable period of time. In contrast to
the US and the Canadian markets, South America is a spot or short-term market. So we are pleased to
have been able to navigate this changing and challenging global marketplace with discipline and
much success to date as our results indicate.
Lastly, we continue to invest to diversify our product offerings around the world, adding higher
valued ingredients and selling existing products to new markets to broaden the base of our
business. We believe this will help the long term performance of our business as well. Let me close
by asking and answering a question that is on the minds of many. What about the Bunge merger? I
personally continue to believe in the strategic rationale of the merger. Our position is set forth
in the press release. We are disappointed in the performance of the stock prices of our two
companies and we will continue to monitor the situation closely. Beyond that, I will have no
further comment about the merger at this time. And with that, I would say thank you and be prepared
to take your questions. Operator?
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Operator
Thank you. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) And well pause for just a moment. Well take our first
question from David Driscoll from Citi Investment Research.
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Financial. |
|
Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Good morning, everyone.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good morning, David.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Well, fantastic results. Certainly probably could have done it on a better day. Looks like
were going open limit down.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
And I dont know what the limit is.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Those limits keep changing, dont they?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Yes.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Question here regarding the 2008 performance. Certainly when we take a big picture look over
the last several years of the companys earnings per share, it has improved just dramatically, and
this year has been nothing short of exceptional. Can you quantify for us, or just ballpark what is
the contribution of co-product values that are in excess of historical relationships? So to be
super specific here, Sam, we all know that you contract and buy your corn at the beginning of the
year and then if co-product values rise substantially in excess of what was in your model, you see
a positive variance. I believe this year was one of the most exceptional years in the history of
the markets on that particular topic, but what I would like to hear from you is just some sense of
what the actual magnitude is so that those of us on the outside can make some intelligent
assessments as to what 09 might look like.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, Dave, Ill tell you, it was significant. Im not going to tell you what the exact number
was. But we did indicate there was a fairly significant change in our guidance that was reflecting
to a great extent the co-product credits that we got, along with currency. So you can figure its
somewhere as part of that $0.25 to $0.30 we talked about. Obviously you know and all of you on the
phone are aware that most of it was from oil. The feed prices remained relatively constant, meal
prices had been strong prior to and we had forecast that. The oil went up, and was the thing that
we could not forecast to the extent that it went up and as you know, its coming back down. So it
was significant, but I cant give you an exact number.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Can you go ahead, please.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
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Financial. |
|
Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Hello?
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Sorry. I thought you were saying something.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
No. No. No.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Can you give us a little bit of a comment on why Brazil was so strong in the quarter?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
The Brazil price/mix was good. We had co-product credits there. We had strong pricing in
Brazil. We had a good relationship on overall corn and the currency helped us out a bit in Brazil,
but thats basically it. And we had some specialty products which came on. As youve heard us talk
for the last, I guess its been four years now, weve been talking about investing in specialties
in Brazil. We did the polyols acquisition in Brazil. Were expanding that. Our channels have come
on stream further. Our expansion in Balsa Nova has come on stream with specialties, so its been a
combination of a number of things now in the Brazilian and South American market that work well for
us.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Was any part of the out performance in Brazil related to problems in the tapioca market?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
No.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Okay. Final question, I know you said you didnt want to answer this, but your stock is
trading over the deal price. Certainly with results today, its hard to imagine a Corn Products
holder here who wants to be tied to Bunge stock, which has seen such pressures. So your performance
is a testament to how well you and your management team have done, but of course your stock is not
going to get rewarded for it. Sam, is there whats the reason why you dont want to make any
comments here, or I feel like the folks out there are really fairly desperate to hear some
understanding as to why the stock has gone down this far and really what Corn Products management
believes should be done. I mean it seems to me theres a lot of shareholder value thats locked up
in this thing and thats not being reflected in the current stock price.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, David, I appreciate the comments and the praise. That sounds really good. But I will not
comment further on it. As I said earlier, as you know, were at a point in time now where we have
to be quiet on what we are doing, and we will be. But the press release stated our position and
thats about as far as Im going to go.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Okay. Thank you very much. Great job.
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Financial. |
|
Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thanks.
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from Vincent Andrews from Morgan Stanley.
Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Analyst
Good morning, everybody.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good morning, Vince.
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
Hi, Vincent.
Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Analyst
Just wondering if you could just remind us, theres a lot going on in the foreign exchange
market and you guys obviously have assets in various places outside of the US, but if you could
as we think about on a go-forward basis and watching your guidance, how should foreign exchange
affect you, assuming rates stay where they are over the next 12 months?
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
On a translation basis, Vincent, our sales will come down, as will our expenses. In the South
American market, weve said the business model is typically to price for the recovery of a
devaluation. It shows up in the price/mix line and it takes anywhere from one to three to several
months to recapture that.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Historically, Vincent, weve said that it takes us a while to get it back. And we also say as
it devalues, we tend to see capacities pick up, so we normally would have a period of time for
repricing and a period of time for adjustment on volume so the country devalued can start to be
not only us, but our customers starting to export out of the developing world and that has
typically been the case throughout South America and has also been the case in some of the smaller
markets in which we deal in Asia.
Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Analyst
Okay, and then my other question would be, if you give us some sense of youve done a
number of small acquisitions over the last several years and youve been putting in incremental
CapEx for growth projects. Can you give us an idea how much thats contributing to results this
year?
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Financial. |
|
Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
As Ive said, certainly in the Brazilian marketplace its had an impact. I wont give you a
specific number on it, but the polyols operation in North America being integrated is starting to
bear fruit for us. Were seeing the growth in our health and nutrition business thats coming along
very nicely. All of these things, Vincent, are still relatively small in scale, but they were the
foundation we were laying and are continuing to lay for the growth of the business in the future.
Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Analyst
But they are clearly contributing you had very nice operating margin gains and my sense
would be that that was at least a contributor to that. Is that fair?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
A small contributor. Obviously the gains that we got, when you look at the size of our
business is on the specialty and ingredient side, its small by comparison, so it was part of it,
but we also got the margin gains as a result of the base business performing well.
Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Analyst
Of course.
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
And Vincent, just what is in the public arena is when we announced the Peruvian acquisition
and the polyols acquisition, the combination was about $100 million in net sales.
Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Analyst
Sure, okay. Yes, Ill leave it there. Thanks so much.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you.
Operator
Your next question comes from Ann Gurkin from Davenport & Company.
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
Good morning.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good morning, Ann.
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Hi, Ann.
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
I wanted to start with North America. Youve shown tremendous improvement in your margins. And
is that a level that could be sustainable as you look out into 09, or what are the risks to that,
maintaining that margin level?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, I think we I think Cheryl said in her comments, Ann, that we saw a spike in
co-products that was unusual in the third quarter and we probably reflected it in our guidance for
the fourth quarter. We expect it to come down. Right now, its very difficult to forecast anything
for the fourth quarter, or for the next year. We would not do it at this time anyway, but with the
volatility in the marketplace today and currencies and commodities, we I try to explain that the
business model works for us and we believe that that is appropriate. We believe utilizations are
still in good shape in North America. Corn numbers have been all over the place and contracting
will come when it comes, and as you know, we book our corn when we contract. I cannot forecast
where we are right now, but we have seen improving margins in North America and we expect to see
North America perform well going forward.
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
Okay, and Sam, I think you mentioned you all are negotiating contracts. In the past couple of
years, I believe a lot of those contracts have been finalized earlier than maybe historic levels.
Do you have any anticipation as to when, or what percentage of your business will be contracted in
the October-November timeframe this year versus last year?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Not on a percentage basis, Ann. I think what weve said is it has gone earlier. Weve been
doing it for the last couple of years, weve been finished before year end. And this year, I
would expect the same thing to be the case, but on a percentage basis by month, I cant give you an
indication on that.
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
Okay, and then can I get an outlook for South Korea?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
South Korea, as we said in the press release, was off a bit. As we stated, I think at the last
call, were going through introducing GMO corn into South Korea, and were pushing that into the
marketplace. The markets slowly receiving it, so we expect it to take a little longer than we
thought, but once thats in, we have a better corn cost position in South Korea, and we expect it,
as we said before, we do expect that business to come back. Perhaps not to the levels it was in the
past, not even perhaps. Korea was one of our highest performing businesses a while back, but we do
think it can come back stronger than its been the last couple of years.
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
So youre not concerned that the economy might weaken right now given whats going on?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Were concerned about economies weakening every place. Its not just South Korea. Certainly I
think South Korea, just like every place else in the world has to get through this mess were in
right now, and then we can come back.
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
Okay. And as you look into 09, is there any reason you all cannot grow earnings in 09 versus
08? Can you comment on that?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
There are probably a lot of reasons why we could not, but Im not saying we wont. I think
that with the volatility thats out there right now, we have a number of issues facing us, but I
was trying to describe, as I said in the model, we believe that our model represents a strong
business model going forward. We will continue to execute on that model.
Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company Analyst
Great. Thats great. Thank you very much.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you.
Operator
Next well hear from Christine McCracken from Cleveland Research Company.
Christine McCracken - Cleveland Research Company Analyst
Good morning.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good early morning, Christine.
Christine McCracken - Cleveland Research Company Analyst
Just a question on your Mexican business. With the dollar where it is, my expectation would be
that US high fructose isnt exactly flowing into Mexico. Is that a fair assumption? And to what
degree has that benefited your Mexican operation?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I dont know that its a fair assumption, Christine. I think that obviously it could have an
impact, which will be neutral to us in Mexico, because obviously weve been selling what we could
produce down there before and we have market dynamics that affect the pricing scenario down there.
So I think that we still see product flowing into Mexico. It may not be as much as its been in the
past, although we dont know yet. Its not were not far enough along in the contracting to say
that. I think we will be okay in Mexico as a result of whats going on there.
Christine McCracken - Cleveland Research Company Analyst
Sure, and then just in terms of Argentina, theres obviously been pretty significant
disruption in those markets here lately. Im wondering if you talked to your group in the region to
see what their thoughts are on that overall market and the potential ramifications for your South
American business.
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, the Argentine business has been performing well, and as we stated, the entire South
American business has been performing well. As it turns out, Ill be seeing them over the weekend
and well get a first-hand update. But I can guarantee you, if there are any problems of any nature
at all, I would have had a call by now. We see Argentina doing fine, and its a business that, as
weve said before, we put money in to invest and expand. We see the expansion coming on and doing
well and the business has performed well for us throughout the course of the last couple of years
and we expect it to continue.
Christine McCracken - Cleveland Research Company Analyst
And with the drought affecting the corn expectations there, is that a concern at all?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Not at the moment. Obviously depending upon how severe it gets it could cause prices to go up
somewhat, but were not seeing anything that is significant right now.
Christine McCracken - Cleveland Research Company Analyst
Okay. Ill leave it there. Thanks.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from Heather Jones from BB&T Capital Markets.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Good morning. Great quarter.
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
Good morning, Heather.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Hi, Heather, how are you?
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Good.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good.
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
I have some questions about international markets. I understand the idea that you priced
locally to recover devaluation of currencies and it should ultimately help the exports of those
markets, but I was concerned about the quickness with which the currencies had deteriorated, and I
would presume that any near-term disruptions from that, I assume thats in your Q4 guidance.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thats correct, yes.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Okay. And how much as far as your guidance goes, what kind of time line are you all
assuming for recovering that end local price?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, what weve said historically, Heather, is that it takes about three months, three to six
months for recovery and I mean weve seen the devaluation I mean this one has been relatively
sharp, but its still been over a period of time. Weve seen devaluations that have hit us in a day
and it takes typically about the three to six-month timeframe to get it through. I think that the
volatility right now, we dont know where its going to end up. I have watched it in a day move up
and down. The Reals gone from 220 to 255 in a day and back down to 220 the next day. So this has
to settle out before we can really make a move, and I dont know that that settling out will be a
week I dont think it will be a week. A couple of months or whatever. Historically weve been
able to move it through and we believe well be able to do the same thing this time.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
And I know that your products in these countries tend to be fairly defensive, but still, given
the severity of whats going on, have you seen any, in October, and even in the last week or so,
have you all seen any change in consumption trends in these markets?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, the week wouldnt be anything that would be indicative of anything, Heather. Our volumes
could go out in any time or timeframe. As we said for the quarter, our volumes were in South
America in particular, were up slightly and it was slightly, but they were up. We are weve not
seen anything dramatic any place that we can speak of right now, no.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
And was the US the North American volume down 1%, was the US worse than that?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I think basically we just leave it at the overall volumes there. One thing I will comment on,
historically, in tough times, the products that we supply to our customers are our customers
products are pretty much in demand. People stay home, eat more, drink more, do everything else. So
we are not forecasting a fall-off as a result of the economy right now. I could be wrong on that,
but historically its not been the case. And what were seeing right now is that things are holding
up reasonably well, at least through the third quarter.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Okay. I have a couple more questions. On Pakistan, I mean that economy seems like its been
weakened all year, but its getting worse. What are you all seeing and thinking there?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Our business there is performing well. I mean again, were in basic fundamental products that
people need. We sell to the textile industry. We sell to the food industry. The economy, although
its having some problems right now, is up significantly from where it was four or five years ago
and the people have grown accustomed to using these products and are using them. So we expect that
business to continue to perform. As we said, were building another plant there. And that plant is
moving forward and it is our expectation that it will be up in the prescribed timeframe to supply
products needed in the market and exported out of the country into the region.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Can you give us a rough idea what percentage of your products there are for domestic
consumption versus exports?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
In Pakistan?
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Yes.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Most of its domestic, by far and away.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Domestic, okay. And Im not going to ask for your opinion on the merger. I just have a
technical question.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Okay.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Given that the vote date was pushed out, has the shareholder of record date been pushed out?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
We have not set that yet.
Heather Jones - BB&T Capital Markets Analyst
Okay. All right. Thank you very much, and congratulations again.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Thank you.
David Prichard - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, IR
Thanks, Heather.
Operator
Our next question comes from Ken Zaslow from BMO Capital Markets.
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Hi, good morning, everyone.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good morning, Kenny. How are you doing?
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Hanging in there.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thats about the operative word, isnt it?
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Thats about it. At current net corn costs, what type of high fructose corn syrup pricing do
you need to get to just maintain margins per volume, I guess? Because I think you like to talk
about margin per volume rather than margins.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Right.
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
How are we looking at that?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, since Ive never answered that question before, I dont know that Im going to answer it
right now. I guess what Im going to say is that the market is such that there is room for prices
to be passed through that would accommodate the cost and some more. And the issue now, as we go
through the negotiations, is do we get those numbers?
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Okay. One of your public competitors with the initials ADM
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Who could that be?
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
What?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I said, who could that be?
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Right. They implied theres a high likelihood that pricing will still be up in 2009. Is that
your judgment as well?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I hope so.
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Okay.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I believe they will, but thats I hope for that all the time, Ken, as long as it relates to
my products being sold to my customers.
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
And I guess, how does the price of high fructose corn syrup compare to sugar at this point and
has the spread widened?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, sugar price in the US, youre talking about?
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Yes.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Sugar prices in the US are pretty high and theres plenty of room.
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Okay. And then I guess my last question would be, how is your search for a new CEO going?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I think we said we put it on hold as we went through the merger and thats all I can comment
on really.
Ken Zaslow - BMO Capital Markets Analyst
Okay. Thank you very much.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thanks, Kenny.
Operator
Next we have a follow-up from David Driscoll from Citi Investment Research.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Great. Thank you. Cheryl, this question is I think you said in your prepared comments, but
could you go back over working capital issues and the cash flow issues, and what you would expect
to happen over the next couple of quarters in terms of just the debt rose because working capital
rose because of these margin issues on the corn? Does that stay with us permanently, or do we get
it back at some point in time?
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
It depends upon where the corn prices go. I mean if we look at December of 07, what I did
make the comment on, and let me see if I can wind this up so its intelligent. Its always at a
point in time, so its wheres your book of business and the contracts that you have and the
futures to support that booked business, so youve got your portfolio of futures, 12-31, 9-30,
12-31, doesnt make much difference. Its where the price goes at those quarter end points in time.
So if we look at last year, we actually had a fairly substantial inflow on the margin accounts. It
continued that trend through the first quarter and the second quarter with anticipation that as the
year went on, that would be given back. So it actually becomes a neutral that will flow through the
earnings as you have the price of the booked business, youll release the corn future to go with
it. So youll buy your corn at the current price and youll release your futures and youll be back
to where you were on a hedge basis.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
And as you
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
So from a debt standpoint, David, which I think is what you were after, I would not expect our
debt numbers to change substantially by the end of the year.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Okay. Thats very helpful. Sam. Just a couple follow-ups here. On the international business,
are you in effect saying that right now today you really do not see any weakness in those
businesses or really forecast, thats a better statement, any weakness in those businesses related
to a slowdown in global GDP growth? I mean its my presumption that many of the products that you
sell are very, very basic products that go into
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
industry and thus kind of the knock-on effect would be those industries see a slowdown and
subsequently that backs up through the chain, negatively impacting volume demand for products that
Corn Products make.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Basically, David, we have said on the food side for the most part, even in a downturn, and
this one may be more dramatic than most, but in most downturns, the food industry stays pretty
solid and its been a defensive industry and youve covered it for a long time, so you know the
volumes stay relatively constant. Perhaps lower price products sell better than higher price
products, but our products are in all of them. The industrial side of our business can vary
depending upon where we are, because obviously if people are not using as much corrugated or paper
in other applications outside of the food, those numbers could come down. But as you look at the
developing world, when the currencies drop, we tend to see those industrial businesses able to
compete more effectively in the global marketplace so paper, corrugating, textile does tend to hold
fairly well as the currencies devalue in the rest of the world.
So I cant say that without any kind of a doubt in this environment would we have hiccups for a
period of time? Sure, we may. But I think in general the basic model works well and the businesses
were in tend to serve us well. And were spreading the mix around. We are selling more of our
products in markets we didnt sell before, so were able to accommodate some growth as a result of
that as well.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Then a follow-up on the North American markets, specifically US HFCS. Pepsi and Coke gave some
I think Pepsi said they were down 4% on volumes and Coke down something like 2%. Bottom line, it
was, it was negative and I think that the read-through that a lot of people had was this would be
very negative for the fructose makers. Again, I think your volumes in North America were down just
1%, but specifically when you look at the US, how is it that your volumes are down less than what
Coke and Pepsi guys are reporting? And is there an eventual catch-up here, or is it that there are
other product markets within the United States that are doing better which nets out in your
volumes?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I think thats the latter is pretty much the answer to the question, David. As weve said
before, were diversifying our product mix. Were diverting grind from fructose where we can over
the last multiple of years, recognizing that there could be a slowdown in the takeaway of high
fructose. And as a result of that, weve been able to put capacity in for other products and were
selling those products into other markets that are growing better than perhaps the soft drink
market or the high fructose market to soft drinks are growing.
So the net-net of it is that we are looking to diversify where we can. Fructose will always be an
important part of our business, but were making less of it today than we made in the past, not
significantly. Its not were not giving up market share. Were not walking away from the
business. I dont want to even get anybody thinking that, but weve said right along that where we
could, we put a channel in Port Colborne with respect to some of the higher valued products. Were
putting in higher valued ingredients throughout the world to be able to diversify and switch grind
off, because weve not expanded grinds anyplace, except in South America where we needed it. And
that is working well for us as far as part of the business model.
David Driscoll - Citi Investment Research Analyst
Sam, thats very helpful. Thank you so much.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you.
Operator
(OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) Our next question comes from Christopher Bledsoe from Barclays
Capital.
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
Christopher Bledsoe - Barclays Capital Analyst
Good morning.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Hi, Chris.
Christopher Bledsoe - Barclays Capital Analyst
I think in response to an earlier question, you had mentioned that your you see room to
for prices to be passed through to accommodate costs and then some. So to me, I kind of take that
to mean, as you would expect, managing for margin in your HFCS business. But I just wanted to I
guess dig a little deeper. And when you say youre kind of or when you think about managing for
margin in that business, is that independent of co-product credits, and if its not, and I dont
think it is, with corn oil coming off the way that it has, how do you make sure that you get paid
for the volatility in that, in the co-product values?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, we try to price taking everything into account, Chris. We recognize we cant forecast
what the oil price is going to be nine months out, nor our forecast of meal or feed price is going
to be, but we give it our best guess and try to price through at that point. As I said, this year
with the run-up in commodities that we saw, it went beyond where we thought it would go, and we
dont expect those kind of things to happen again, but what I was trying to say is with our
forecasted numbers right now, we believe we can pass through the cost increases we will see, and
were seeing corn up slightly at the present time from where it was last year. Were seeing
co-products down from where we went into the quarter last year, so that would mean our net corn
would be up some. We can get that through hopefully we can get a little bit more through, but we
will not see the run-up in co-products that we saw that was above and beyond what we had forecast
at the beginning of the year of 2008.
Christopher Bledsoe - Barclays Capital Analyst
And when you sort of referenced net corn costs being higher, taking into account both the
co-product values as well as the gross and thats based on the gross components based on the
futures curve?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Futures curve and the basis number, what we pay to get the corn. The futures curve would be
the market that we have to go through. If somebody came through today and said they wanted to buy
corn, book the business, fructose, dextrose, anything, we would go to the market today, book the
corn and the basis we cant book throughout the year, so we would go out perhaps as far as we can
on a basis, which could be a couple of months. And then we would buy the basis throughout the year
on that corn, but thats how we run our business right along.
Christopher Bledsoe - Barclays Capital Analyst
Yes. And so the futures curve gives you visibility into at least what the markets deems as an
appropriate level for kind of the primary raw material, but the co-product values, the
co-product credit. Are there factors that you look at to try to get to what you think is kind of a
right level for the year ahead, whether it be protein production and potentially less demand for
animal feed or kind of global growth? I mean are those the kind of factors that youre looking at
in trying to come up with a kind of fair value for the co-products?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, I would like to think that we were that sophisticated, but I would probably be
exaggerating a bit. We look at historic norms. We look at where we think the numbers are going to
be. We look at what we believe to be the case as far as the cost of commodities going forward. I
think right now, all things being equal, commodity prices could be in this environment, they
could go further, but they are probably bottoming out as
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
to whether the farmers going to afford to continue planting unless we see a rise in commodities.
So we might see a pick up in the planting intentions, depending on where they are going. We look at
that, but were not going through an every nook and cranny kind of analysis to figure out what its
going to be because it is at best an art. Its definitely not a science.
Christopher Bledsoe - Barclays Capital Analyst
Yes. So I guess in thinking about the subject of sort of nature, thats where the importance
of capacity utilization comes in and all of that. And on the utilization front, it seems to me that
you feel fairly good about where the industrys at, at least relative to maybe lows earlier in the
decade. But is that something that you would be able to quantify kind of where the industrys at in
terms of utilization today?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Ive not said where it is, but it is in pretty good shape, as you said, as compared to where
we were before. The industry I cant talk to the industry. I can talk for us, but weve heard
some of our competitors say they have diverted grind and weve seen plants shut down. As Ive said
earlier, weve diverted grind where we can to other products that are growing fast and perhaps high
fructose is growing. Weve also diverted grind to specialties and sold products into new markets.
So from our perspective, weve tried to maintain the utilization of our plants at a reasonably
constant level or hopefully increasing it a little bit. But those numbers are high enough to be
able to support price movements that were hoping to see as we go forward in the contracting.
Christopher Bledsoe - Barclays Capital Analyst
Thank you.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you.
Operator
(OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) Our next question comes from Christina McGlone from Deutsche Bank.
Christina McGlone - Deutsche Bank Analyst
Sam, you talked about if were entering into an era now where co-products are not going to
continually move up, because were in a flat to maybe declining corn curve, what is can you just
possibly be more specific about your opportunities for growth because in the same vein it seems
like specialty and value added is still small and you talked about this diversion to other
products. Could you maybe talk about it so we could have an idea of the growth potential aside from
that co-product contribution that really helped the past two years?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, Christina, I think what weve said historically is we thought that our business would
grow over the last five or six years in low double-digit and weve said going forward that the
business model still works. So as we put capacity as we put a couple hundred million dollars a
year in capital expenditures, most of it for growth, and as we look around our world and see new
capacity coming on within our business to continue to grow the business, we believe we can handle
that. We had, as we said, we had a situation this year where we had a bit of a positive hiccup on
the business, and well take that off the top of the business model going forward, and say, all
right, well still continue to grow at the levels we thought we could grow at before, perhaps with
that in the base. But the business model tends to work so that I think Ive said in normal
circumstances, we can pass through the primary cost increase, corn.
We see some other energy issues coming back a little bit in our favor. We see that the businesses
were going into, be they small, are tending to give us better returns in the overall, because they
are a higher valued product, and as long as we invest properly, we will continue to see that
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
grow, small, but growing, and I mean that all benefits us as we go forward. So I think its a
combination of all of those things coming together that allow us to say, do we think the business
can continue to perform on a compounded base over time at a pretty good growth rate.
Christina McGlone - Deutsche Bank Analyst
So when you say taking the top off, what kind of base should we think about using when we
apply that 10% to 12% rate?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
I cant give you a base on that. I think I gave you Cheryl gave you some ideas as to how
much was in the quarter that was unique to the quarter, and I think that would be something that
you could go forward with from there and use that as a model.
Christina McGlone - Deutsche Bank Analyst
Okay. And did you have any benefit in the quarter from the floods, the fact that three
competitive facilities were offline for a while? Did you see any flow into your US business from
that?
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
We saw some volumes come in from that. It happened at a time that generally the industry is
running at pretty high rates, so it was a situation where we picked up some that we could. We
helped out where we could, but it was not a significant amount of volume that came in.
Christina McGlone - Deutsche Bank Analyst
Okay. And then last question for Cheryl. Your pension plan is under funded. Given the market
performance, Im just curious about what kind of pension expense, when we should think about, maybe
its too early for next year, but maybe more importantly, what sort of cash contribution youre
thinking about for 09, because it could be significant.
Cheryl Beebe - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, CFO
Its way too early, Christina, to be able to make a comment on the pension funding.
Christina McGlone - Deutsche Bank Analyst
Okay. Thank you.
Sam Scott - Corn Products International, Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you.
Operator
(OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) And at this time, there are no further questions in the queue. Mr.
Prichard, I would like to turn the conference back over to you for any additional or closing
remarks.
David Prichard - Corn Products International, Inc. VP, IR
Thank you, operator. And as you say, it appears we dont have any further questions. And as a
result, we will conclude todays conference call and webcast. I do want to say as a reminder, there
is a replay of the webcast that you can access through our website at www.cornproducts.com.
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Final Transcript
Oct. 24. 2008 / 8:30AM ET, CPO Q3 2008 Corn Products International Earnings Conference Call
And theres a replay also of the audio component to the call and thats available through Friday,
November 7th. And the call-in number for that by phone is 719-457-0820, and youll need a pass code
and thats 3424653. So on behalf of Sam Scott and Cheryl Beebe, we all thank you very much for
participating in our conference call this morning, and have a good day. Thank you.
Operator
And this does conclude todays conference. We thank you for your participation. Have a
wonderful day.
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