Corn Products profit beats estimates; forecast raised

Corn Products International Inc., a U.S. corn refiner and producer of sweeteners, raised its full- year earnings forecast and posted a second-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates.

Earnings per share this year will be $2.55 to $2.75, up from a prior prediction of $2.25 to $2.60, the Westchester-based company said today in a statement. The forecast excludes an impairment charge on a Chilean plant and the effect of Corn Products' purchase of Akzo Nobel NV's National Starch unit.

Second-quarter earnings excluding some one-time items were 75 cents a share. That beat the 60-cent average of seven analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Net income of $36.8 million compares with a net loss of $84.8 million a year earlier, the company said. Sales increased 10 percent to $1.07 billion.

Corn Products rose 43 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $34.57 at 10:08 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares earlier climbed 7.6 percent, the biggest intraday increase since Feb. 2. Corn Products gained 17 percent this year before today.