Archer-Daniels shares plummet as company puts its CFO on administrative leave

The organisation’s shares plummeted 24% after news hit the airwaves that CFO, Vikram Luthar, was placed on administrative leave as the firm investigates alleged accounting malpractices in its Nutrition division.

Reportedly, after a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voluntary document request, ADM sliced its 2023 profit predictions and announced the delay of the publication of its Q4 financials. Experts say this action casts an uncertain shadow on ADM’s high-earning Nutrition segment.

As the final bell rang on Monday, ADM shares sold for $51.69 apiece, constituting a 24.20% decrease. Reuters stated this is the lowest price since February 2021, and according to the Centre for Research in Security Prices, the company’s most significant stock drop since the historic market crash in 1929.

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Luthar has been working at the company for almost twenty years and occupied different leadership positions before his appointment as CFO in 2022. Among others, the Nutrition segment supplied plant-based and natural ingredients to food, beverage, and supplement processing businesses.

Compared to its other segments, this ADM division performed poorly and raised correlative concerns. According to Reuters, at least four brokerages downgraded these shares after the SEC request. This also led to the company cutting the adjusted earnings forecast to $6.90 per share from a $7-per-share forecast. In a Reuters interview, Adam Samuelson, a Goldman Sachs financial analyst, summarised the situation:

First and foremost, understanding the true scope of potential accounting irregularities and their impact on Nutrition segment revenues/margins will be critical.