Monsanto’s Revenues Fall, Forecast Weak

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter 2012 adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) loss of $0.44 on revenue of $2.1 billion. In the same period a year ago, the fertilizer and seed maker reported an adjusted diluted net loss of $0.22 per share on revenue of $2.2 billion. Fourth-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for an net loss of $0.42 per share and $2.25 billion in revenue.

For the full fiscal year, the company reported adjusted diluted EPS of $3.70 on revenue of $13.5 billion. That compares with fiscal 2011 EPS of $2.96 on sales of $11.8 billion. The Thomson Reuters consensus estimates called for EPS of $3.72 on revenue of $13.65 billion.

Monsanto’s chairman and CEO said:

With more waves of innovation and global opportunities than ever before, I’m confident that by building off what we accomplished in 2012 we can achieve steady growth in fiscal year 2013 as we continue to deliver sustainable yield to our farmer customers.

Monsanto forecast full-year 2013 EPS of $4.18 to $4.32, both adjusted and unadjusted. The company’s Seeds and Genomics division is slated to post gross profit of $6.55 billion, and the Agricultural Productivity division is expected to put up a profit of $1 billion. Free cash flow is forecast at $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion.

The consensus estimate for 2013 earnings had been $4.38.

Monsanto’s shares are down about 3% in premarket trading this morning, at $88.10. The 52-week range is $59.15 to $91.95. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $95.89 before today’s report.

Paul Ausick