Cooperative CHS focuses on essentials that position member-owners for long-term success

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP), the nation's leading cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, continues to take essential steps that ensure it remains strong and positions its member cooperative- and producer-owners for long-term success.

"Since 2011, we've laid a strong foundation for the future. We've made tremendous investments to serve you at home and to connect you to the global marketplace," CHS President and CEO Carl Casale told about 2,000 member cooperative- and producer-owners attending the company's annual meeting. "Now we're using our new market reality to make us better. We're making sure our system is stronger and that we are more efficient."

The CHS Annual Meeting took place Dec. 1-2 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. With "The Essentials" theme, the event included a review of fiscal 2016 results and highlights, along with official company business. Among those attending were 111 next generation men and women who participated in the company's New Leader Forum designed to enhance leadership skills and expand industry and cooperative knowledge. The two-day CHS Annual Meeting also featured nearly four dozen educational sessions intended to provide business insights that help producers and their cooperatives succeed.

Casale said he remains optimistic about the outlook for U.S. agriculture based on global population growth and food demand projections through the end of the 21^st century.

"Cycles will always be with us, but as farmers, ranchers and the cooperatives who serve them, we've got plenty of opportunity ahead," he said.

For fiscal 2016 (Sept. 1, 2015 – Aug. 31, 2016) CHS reported net income of $424.2 million on revenues of $30.3 billion, both down from fiscal 2015 and attributed to lower commodity prices and margins which affected significant portions of the company's core energy, grain marketing and fertilizer businesses.

In reviewing fiscal 2016 results, Tim Skidmore, CHS executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the cooperative "remains financially sound, with a strong balance sheet, and positioned for future growth opportunities."

Skidmore noted that during fiscal 2017, based on fiscal 2016 results, CHS will return an estimated $337 million in cash to its owners in the form of cash patronage, equity redemptions to eligible members and dividends on preferred stock.

CHS Board Chairman David Bielenberg, a Silverton, Ore., farmer, told members that in down economic cycles it's important to "be open to possibilities we may have overlooked and to focus on what's most important. We also recognize that we don't have to go it alone. We can count on our cooperatives and their trusted teams to be there when we need them."

CHS business highlights for fiscal 2016 included:

• The completion of the company's $2.8 billion strategic investment in CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC, intended to create long-term supplies of patronage-eligible nitrogen fertilizer for its owners.
• A new coker came on line at the CHS refinery at McPherson, Kan., allowing the refinery to process a larger variety of crude oils and deliver the best value to owners and customers by using the most cost-effective crude oil available. During fiscal 2017, completion of expansion projects at McPherson will bring the combined production of that refinery and a second at Laurel, Mont., to 155,000 barrels per day.
• CHS Country Operations helped producer-owners deliver more value through collaboration by combining operations of eight of its business units and by expanding partnerships with cooperatives in Kansas and Alberta, Canada.
• The CHS canola processing plant at Hallock, Minn., exceeded expectations in its first year, further linking farmer-owners to added value in food and food ingredients.
• CHS Business Solutions invested in partnerships that support member-owners including gaining 100 percent ownership of Russell Consulting, which provides financial and marketing advice, and offering The Land As Your Legacy® to engage farm families in business transition planning.

CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS, a Fortune 100 company, supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain marketing services, animal feed, food and food ingredients, along with business solutions including insurance, financial and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex^® brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products.

This document and other CHS Inc. publicly available documents contain, and CHS officers and representatives may from time to time make, "forward–looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Report Act of 1995. Forward–looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward–looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on CHS current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its businesses, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward–looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of CHS control. CHS actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward–looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward–looking statements. Important factors that could cause CHS actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward–looking statements are discussed or identified in CHS public filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" discussion in Item 1A of CHS Annual Report on Form 10–K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2016. Any forward–looking statements made by CHS in this document are based only on information currently available to CHS and speak only as of the date on which the statement is made. CHS undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward–looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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SOURCE CHS Inc.