NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ? Bermuda-registered Bunge Ltd., the world?s biggest oilseed processor, said second-quarter profit fell 73 percent as Brazilian farmers held back soybeans in hopes of higher prices, hurting the company?s processing margins.

Net income fell to $30 million, or 25 cents a share, from $113 million, or 94 cents, a year earlier, White Plains, New York-based Bunge said today in a statement. The results were the worst for the company since the first quarter of 2002. Sales rose 1.8 percent to $5.98 billion.

Excluding one-time gains, Bunge earned 22 cents a share, compared with 3 cents, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The company on June 26 said second-quarter results would be ?close to break-even.?

Bunge chief executive officer Alberto Weisser, 51, has closed a dozen facilities in Brazil in the past nine months, cutting the workforce by ten percent, as lower prices prompted farmers to delay soybean sales and fertilizer purchases. Bunge?s agribusiness unit, including soy processing, had an operating loss of $46 million, after profit of $109 million a year earlier.

Bunge affirmed an earlier forecast for full-year earnings ranging from $425 million to $445 million, or $3.50 to $3.67 a share. The analysts surveyed by Thomson are projecting earnings of $3.59 a share.

Shares of Bunge fell 15 cents to $51.54 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 19 percent in the past year, reaching an eight-month low at $47.25 on June 26 when the company cut its full-year profit forecast and said second-quarter results would be ?poor?.