CHS marks 10 years of delivering value to stakeholders
ST. PAUL, MINN. (June 2, 2008) - In the 10 years since its creation, CHS Inc., has returned unprecedented value to its stakeholders and positioned itself solidly in the energy, grains and foods sectors, serving customers across the United States and around the world.
CHS was formed on June 1, 1998, with the merger of Harvest States and Cenex, two cooperatives with roots stemming to the 1920s. Today, it is the nation's largest member-owned company and ranks number 145 on the Fortune magazine listing of U.S. businesses.
"The achievements of CHS as an integrated company linking producers to consumers have far exceeded our expectations," said Michael Toelle, CHS Board chairman and a Browns Valley, Minn., producer. "Not only has CHS delivered substantial financial value to its member-owners and other stakeholders, it has expanded its ability to connect U.S. farmers to the global marketplace and solidified its role as a reliable supplier of energy products and crop inputs."
Since 1998, CHS has returned $1.3 billion in cash and preferred stock to its owners. This includes four recent consecutive record years, capped by an expected $345 million return in fiscal 2008, based on fiscal 2007 results.
John Johnson, CHS president and chief executive officer, said the company's success has been driven by its unrelenting focus on its mission of returning value to its owners, customers, employees and communities.
"When our owners voted to create this company 10 years ago, it was with the expectation that combining two solid and complementary organizations would achieve a sum greater than the parts," Johnson said. "Over the past decade, we've fulfilled this vision not only through our financial results, but with our ability to serve our producer- and member-cooperative owners and meet the needs of a broad spectrum of energy, grains and food customers."
Among the highlights of the past decade are:
*Net income growth from $86 million in fiscal 1999 to $756.7 million in fiscal 2007, the company's fourth consecutive record year.
*Revenue that has nearly tripled from $6.3 billion in fiscal 1999 to $17.2 billion in fiscal 2007, driven by both market growth and commodity price increases.
