[More on Monsanto and its Products]
ST. LOUIS — Agriculture biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss Wednesday, citing slightly lower sales and softening demand for its Roundup herbicide nationwide, but the company raised growth estimates for the next two fiscal years.
The St. Louis-based company said it lost $42 million, or 16 cents per share, in the three-month period ending Aug. 31, compared with a loss of $188 million, or 72 cents, a year ago.
Monsanto said the latest fourth-quarter results include after-tax restructuring charges of $44 million — $41 million related to continuing operations and $3 million tied to discontinued operations — and a $5 million tax benefit associated with a goodwill write-off of the global wheat business.
Excluding items, Monsanto would have posted a loss of 1 cent per share in the latest quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were expecting a profit of 3 cents per share.
Sales fell to $1.26 billion, from $1.3 billion, as higher revenues for Monsanto's cotton traits in the United States and India were offset by decreased revenue from domestic Roundup sales.
Monsanto boosted its growth projections for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. It said it now expects annual growth for 2005 of 10 percent to 18 percent from fiscal 2004 earnings per share of $1.61 per share on an ongoing basis. The company also expects 2006 earnings to rise 10 percent from 2005. It had previously forecast growth of 10 percent for both years from the 2004 base.
Monsanto shares gained 26 cents to $36.85 in midday trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
``At the beginning of this fiscal year, we set aggressive — but achievable — targets to advance our business. We've not only delivered on those targets, but we've raised and beat them,'' said Hugh Grant, Monsanto's chairman, president and chief executive. ``The success we've had this year — especially in our seeds and traits business — sets a foundation that allows us to be more aggressive in our growth-rate expectations, and to set those expectations from a higher starting point.''
Monsanto's year-ago earnings included a 96-cents-per-share charge tied to its contribution to a settlement over PCB contamination in Alabama. The company also announced at the time its plans to cut costs linked to its Roundup herbicide operations, exit the European breeding and seed business for wheat and barley, and discontinue its plant-made pharmaceuticals program.
Making clear that it would further focus its resources on its seeds and biotechnology traits business, Monsanto also said then it planned to cut as much as 9 percent, or about 1,200 jobs, of its global work force by the end of this fiscal year.
For the year, Monsanto earned $267 million, or 99 cents per share, on sales of $5.46 billion — nearly quadrupling the $68 million, or 26 cents per share, it earned the previous year on sales of $4.91 billion.
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