* Q2 EPS $2.28, down 58 pct from year ago
* Adjusted EPS $2.13 beats consensus forecast for 90 cts
* Noted good agribusiness results, net loss in fertilizer
* Maintains full-year guidance of $4.90-$5.40 EPS
* Shares slip about 50 cents in early trading (Adds details, context, byline)
By Karl Plume
CHICAGO, July 23 (Reuters) - Oilseed processor and fertilizer producer Bunge Ltd (BG.N) posted better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday, although income was down 58 percent from last year's strong second quarter.
Bunge's quarterly net profit came to $313 million, or $2.28 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $751 million, or $5.45 a share.
Adjusted earnings per share of $2.13, which excluded a $32 million credit in transactional taxes, exceeded the consensus analyst forecast of 90 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Strong results in its agribusiness segment were partly offset by a net loss in its fertilizer business, which has suffered from falling prices for fertilizers produced at a higher cost, Bunge said.
New York-based Bunge expects a strong second half of the year, with results more heavily weighted to the fourth quarter, and maintained its full-year earnings guidance of $4.90 to $5.40 per share.
Net sales fell 23 percent from the same quarter a year ago to $10.994 billion.
"We remain optimistic for a solid second half of the year," Bunge Chairman and CEO Alberto Weisser said in a release.
"We continue to work through some remaining high-cost raw material inventory in our fertilizer segment, but good demand and improved international phosphate pricing should benefit our fertilizer margins," he said.
AGRIBUSINESS RESULTS STRONG
Bunge said strong demand for soybeans from China, good margins and improved demand for soymeal, and increased grain volumes in Europe contributed to the stronger-than-anticipated results from its agribusiness unit. Agribusiness profits totaled $448 million, up from the previous three quarters' poor results, but down 27 percent from a year ago.
Bunge had posted losses in the previous two quarters, its first as a publicly traded company.
Brazilian soybean exports soared this year as a drought-shortened crop in competing South American exporter Argentina tightened global supplies while China stepped up imports.
Argentina's crop woes limited soy processing utilization there, but supported global crush margins, Bunge said.
Meanwhile, forecasts for a record-large U.S. soybean crop this fall should provide ample volumes to its U.S. operations.
The strong agribusiness results more than offset another tough quarter in Bunge's fertilizer business, which struggled amid falling prices and high-cost inventories.
Bunge, the largest producer and supplier of fertilizer in South America, reported a net loss of $53 million in the segment, compared with a net year ago profit of $393 million.
Profit in edible oil products fell 33 percent from a year ago to $10 million, pressured by lower volume and margins in Brazil.
Milling products profit fell 75 percent to $14 million as wheat milling margins narrowed.
Bunge's shares were down about 50 cents at $65.03 in early New York Stock Exchange trading. The stock hit a five-week high of $67.04 earlier in the week, but remained 31 percent below a year ago. (Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Derek Caney and Maureen Bavdek)
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