Monsanto Co. on Wednesday said its quarterly profit fell from a year ago as corn seed sales lagged, but raised its outlook for the full year and unveiled a five-year growth plan.
For the third quarter, Monsanto reported net income of $858 million compared with $909 million in the year-ago period. Net sales for its crop protection and lawn-and-garden herbicide segment - known as Agricultural Productivity - edged up to $1.21 billion, from $1.19 billion a year ago. Seeds and Genomics sales dipped to $3.04 billion compared with $3.05 billion in 2013.
"Through the third quarter, we're on track for seeds and traits to drive a majority of our full-year growth. That performance in a more challenging agricultural environment speaks to the breadth and customer value of our product portfolio,' said Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer. "Coupled with an expanding portfolio of solutions for farmers, this provides confidence to target at least doubling our ongoing earnings per share over the next five years and evolve our capital allocation priorities; including an additional $10 billion share repurchase authorization that further enhances Monsanto's ability to return value to our shareowners.'
The company announced a target to at least double full-year ongoing earnings per share by the end of fiscal year 2019. Monsanto said the largest driver of the overall growth over the next five years is expected to come from the established core seeds and traits business, with an expected contribution of more than $4 billion in total incremental gross profit growth during that period. "At the same time, Monsanto continues to make strong progress with new platforms, including its Climate Corporation platform, which is expected to contribute a key part to Monsanto's strategy and earnings profile during this five year growth horizon,' the company said in a statement.
Monsanto raised its full-year guidance to the upper end of its previous guidance ranges, with ongoing EPS guidance of $5.10 to $5.20.