Monsanto’s Losses Widen as Seed Sales Decline
NYT
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 2, 2013 at 12:18 PM ET
WASHINGTON — Agricultural business giant Monsanto Co. reported worse-than-expected losses for its fiscal fourth quarter on Wednesday, due to lower sales of its genetically engineered seeds. The company forecast for fiscal 2014 also came in below Wall Street expectations, and it revealed plans to buy farming software and data firm The Climate Corporation. The combination sent shares lower in morning trading.
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The St. Louis company recorded a loss of $249 million, or 47 cents per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 31. That was wider than its loss of $264 million, or 42 cents per share, in the 2012 fourth quarter. Revenue climbed 5 percent to $2.2 billion, from $2.1 billion last year.
Analysts, on average, expected a loss of 43 cents per share, on sales of $2.26 billion, according to data provider FactSet. The fourth quarter is generally Monsanto's weakest, because it occurs before farmers buy new seed for the next planting season.
The company's performance was hurt by a steep drop in sales of genetically modified soybean seeds, which fell 38 percent to $87 million. That drop was offset by higher sales of the company's best-selling product, genetically modified corn seeds, which rose 5.1 percent to $618 million. But overall seed sales still edged lower to $1.19 billion for the quarter.
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