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By P.J. Huffstutter and Arunima Kumar
July 27 (Reuters) - Bunge Ltd posted a 15% jump in second-quarter 2022 adjusted profit on Wednesday, but the global farm commodities merchant's results missed Wall Street expectations and its share price fell nearly 5%.
The company raised its full-year profit forecast and discussed plans to spend about $3.3 billion on future investments and expenditures in the next few years.
About $1 billion is expected to be aimed at bolt-on M&A targets aimed at expanding the company's "core agribusiness origin and crush capabilities," Bunge Chief Financial Officer John Neppl said during an earnings call.
Bunge's results come as global supply chains become snarled and strong demand for food and fuel propel inflation to the highest in decades. The company's rising operating costs offset higher demand and tighter supplies of commodity grain crops, it said.
Russia's invasion of major corn and wheat exporter Ukraine has driven up demand for crops supply-chain middlemen like Bunge ship around the world. But transportation and ongoing pandemic-related issues continue to be a drag on the grain sector overall.
Bunge's agribusiness unit saw a boost from U.S. and Brazilian soy crush due to strong demand for meal and oil, it said, but its merchandising group was impacted by ocean freight issues, where rates have soared and ports have been log-jammed.
A day earlier, rival Archer-Daniels-Midland Co beat earnings expectations and highlighted "good execution in global freight."
Bunge also attributed a $59 million net loss for the quarter from its agribusiness segment due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
It will be a slow process for shippers to move commodities out of Ukraine and into the global markets, Bunge Chief Executive Officer Gregory Heckman said, in part because of damage to the country's ports on the Black Sea.
Excluding items, Bunge earned $2.97 per share, below analysts' estimate of $3.26 per share, according to Refinitiv data. And while the company's second-quarter revenue climbed 16.5% to $17.93 billion, it missed estimates of $18.46 billion. (Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru and P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Aditya Soni, David Evans and Chizu Nomiyama)