Monsanto Q1 Earnings Highlighted By Soybean Sales

Posted by Dan Jacobs|7 January 2015

Strong soybean sales, driven by Intacta RR2 PRO, helped Monsanto Company deliver earnings per share for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 ahead of expectations outlined at the beginning of the fiscal year. Intacta RR2 PRO is projected to exceed its 10-12 million acre target.

Overall, sales for Monsanto’s Seeds and Genomics segment in the first quarter were $1.6 billion, led by the performance of the company’s soybean business — its fastest growing growth driver. The company also expects a positive impact following the USDA’s final Environmental Impact Statement concluding that Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton should be fully deregulated. During its annual update, Monsanto highlighted advancements across the industry’s broadest research and development pipeline, including its breeding, biotechnology, crop protection, microbials, BioDirect and Climate platforms.

“From progress in our Roundup Ready Xtend systems to advancements in highly-relevant disease-resistance breeding traits — as well as next-generation insect control products and upgrades in our Climate services — we are seeing incredible progress across our research and development pipeline,” said Dr. Robb Fraley, chief technology officer for Monsanto.

Net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 for Monsanto’s Agricultural Productivity segment were approximately $1.2 billion. The company continues to anticipate Agricultural Productivity segment gross profit to be down by up to 10% in fiscal year 2015, primarily driven by pricing.