Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) reported Q1 EPS of $1.58, $0.44 better than the analyst estimate of $1.14. Revenue for the quarter came in at $10.8 billion versus the consensus estimate of $13.16 billion.

Soren Schroder, Bunge's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We had a good start to the year with strong results in Agribusiness and Food & Ingredients and an improvement in Sugar & Bioenergy.

"Our Agribusiness operations in North America, Europe and Brazil performed well, capitalizing on strong soybean crushing margins and executing high margin oilseed export programs. Food & Ingredients continued to make progress with its commercial and operational excellence programs, largely offsetting the impacts of significant foreign currency devaluations and slowing economies in certain markets.

"Looking ahead, demand remains solid. Soybean harvests in South America are historically large, which aligns well with our footprint, and farmers in the region have much of their harvests remaining to be priced. Farmers in the Northern Hemisphere are expected to plant large crops, which should drive high asset utilizations later in the year. We also continue to press ahead in driving greater efficiency and unlocking value through our performance improvement initiatives, which is evident in our results. The rolling four quarter ROIC for our core Agribusiness and Food & Ingredients operations is 10.7%, tracking well above its 7% cost of capital. We expect strong returns to continue through the course of the year, while also growing earnings on a trajectory to reach our 2017 target of $8.50 per share.

"We continue to follow our strategy of investing in our core businesses. Earlier this month, we announced the creation of a joint venture to invest in the Canadian Wheat Board. This investment, which provides access to high quality Canadian grain, improves the balance of our global grain network and provides greater market opportunities for Canadian growers. We remain committed to our balanced approach to capital allocation, and during the first quarter we bought back $200 million of common shares."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Bunge Limited (BG) click here.