UPDATE 3-Bunge posts lower profit, cuts outlook

* Q3 EPS $1.62 vs. year-ago $1.70

* Agribusiness results strong, fertilizer weak

* Cuts full-year outlook to $3.10-$3.50 per share

* Shares fall 5.8 percent (Adds quote, updates share price)

CHICAGO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Agricultural company Bunge Ltd (BG.N) reported a slight decline in third-quarter earnings and cut its full-year forecast on Thursday amid a weak market for its fertilizer, sending its shares down nearly 6 percent.

Net profit fell to $232 million, or $1.62 per share, from $234 million, or $1.70 a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.47 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue dropped 24 percent to $11.3 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $12.02 billion.

New York-based Bunge said strong agribusiness results were driven by good margins. But it reported a loss in fertilizer due to high inventory costs and low market prices.

The company cut its full-year earnings forecast to a range of $3.10 to $3.50 per share due to a weaker-than-anticipated near-term fertilizer outlook. It previously had expected $4.90 to $5.40.

"Fertilizer results will be weaker than we previously expected due to a softer pricing environment both internationally and in Brazil," Chief Financial Officer Jacqualyn Fouse said in a statement.

Bunge, the largest producer and supplier of fertilizer in South America, said sales volumes of the products had increased seasonally in the third quarter, but were not as strong as expected.

Poor fertilizer margins led to a $127 million net loss in the segment.

Fertilizer sales in Brazil have been subdued by farmers' credit constraints. Also, farmers there are cutting back seedings of nutrient-intensive corn and cotton in favor of soybeans, which do not require as much fertilizer.

Bunge said agribusiness profit rose 73 percent to $294 million, while edible oil product profit reached $35 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $29 million.

Bunge said tight soybean supplies in drought-hit Argentina and strong demand for soybeans from China aided its U.S. and Brazilian grain origination businesses.

Shares of Bunge were down 5.8 percent at $63.02 in premarket trading. The stock had hit a 7-1/2 week high early this week. (Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)