...The combination of funding the Neovia acquisition and weaker first-quarter milling and ethanol margins led to an increase adjusted debt to EBITDA to 2.3x for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019, compared with leverage of 1.7x at fiscal year-end 2018. We expect the higher leverage to be temporary, as full-year EBITDA should rebound closer to 2018 levels reflecting still healthy North American soybean crush margins. Global soybean meal demand remains strong, as livestock farmers outside China look to expand production given the shortage of hogs in China, where supply has been decimated because of the African Swine Flu (ASF) epidemic. In addition, contributions from recent investments in its nutrition segment (including Neovia), stabilizing margins in the underperforming carbohydrates solution segment (where corn milling and ethanol processing margins have been pressured by higher industrywide inventory levels), and ongoing cost reduction also support a modest earnings rebound. Lastly, cash...
