EmailStory Stocks®
Archive
Last Update: 03-Apr-13 08:13 ET
Monsanto shares rise 2% following better than expected earnings
Monsanto (MON $105.90 +1.90) reported second quarter earnings of $2.73 per share, $0.17 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $2.56, while revenues rose 15.2% year/year to $5.47 billion versus the $5.27 billion consensus. The company raised EPS guidance for fiscal year 2013 with EPS of $4.40-4.50 versus the $4.54 consensus, up from $4.30-4.40. The Seeds and Genomics segment consists of the company's global seeds and related traits business (This segment made up 88% of the company's total EBIT for the quarter) Sales in the Seeds and Genomics segment for the second quarter were $4.3 billion, an increase of $422 million over the same period last year. For the first six months, sales for the segment are up $643 million over the same period last year. Monsanto's global corn business led the Seeds and Genomics segment performance, as it expects to hit record total corn volumes in 2013. The second quarter results were driven in part by the conclusion of a successful and record second season in Brazil where the company continued to achieve strong demand for its latest corn products. The U.S. corn business also drove the results for the quarter, with the co projecting another year of strong performance from the business driven by the positive mix improvement across its corn portfolio. The company is on track to reach the high end of its 36 million to 38 million acre target range for its Genuity reduced refuge family.
