Rex American Resources Corp. has released fiscal third quarter financial results, reported record third quarter net income of $23.34 million for the three-month period ended Oct. 31, up from $9.87 million during the same period of the previous year.

Rex reported net sales and revenue of $138.5 million for the quarter, compared to $166.2 million during the same quarter of 2013. The reduction is attributed to lower ethanol and distillers grains pricing. As a result of lower corn prices and strong ethanol crush spread margins during the third quarter, Rex reported a gross profit of $36.5 million, up from $18 million during the third quarter of the previous year. Equity in income of unconsolidated ethanol affiliates increased to $8.8 million, up from $3.3 million the prior year. This led to net income from continuing operations before income taxes and non-controlling interests of $40.6 million, compared to $15.9 million during the third quarter of 2013.

Net income attributable to Rex shareholders reached $23.3 million for the quarter, up from $9.9 million last year. Diluted net income per share attributable to Rex common shareholders increased to a record $2.86 per share, up from $1.21 per share last year.

Rex holds interests in seven ethanol plant, which shipped a combined 761 million gallons of ethanol during the 12 months ended Oct. 31.

During an investor call to discuss the quarterly results, Stuart Rose, CEO of Rex, highlighted the company’s efforts to expand its presence in the ethanol industry. According to Rose, Rex continues to look for ethanol plants to purchasing, noting the company prefers to acquire Fagen-ICM plants with nameplate capacities of 100 million gallons. He also indicated Rex is continuing to explore the possibility of building new plants. The company is working with a builder, he said, adding that a potential site for a new ethanol plant has been identified. He also stressed that Rex has not yet submitted a full application for that project to the EPA, adding that even if the EPA were to approve such an application in the future, Rex’s board would still have to make the decision to move forward with building a new plant.