--> MON +2.32% on pre-market very low volume
Monsanto beats by $0.12, beats on revs; confirms FY15 EPS in-line, co lowers seeds and genomics segment gross profit growth p
Reports Q1 (Nov) earnings of $0.47 per share, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.35; revenues fell 8.7% year/year to $2.87 bln vs the $2.8 bln consensus.
- Co confirms in-line guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $5.75-6.00 vs. $5.87 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
- MON delivered earnings per share for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 ahead of expectations it outlined at the beginning of the fiscal year. The company also noted 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.
- Gross profit for the 2015 first quarter also decreased over the prior year period to $1.4 billion. As previewed in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014, the decline in gross profit in the quarter is due largely to lower planted acres for corn in South America and in cotton in Australia, combined with a timing shift as the company moves more of its Agricultural Productivity business to branded-product sales that historically occur more in the third quarter.
- Co lowers seeds and genomics segment gross profit growth
- With the expectation of lower global corn acres, the seeds and genomics gross profit growth percentage for the year is now expected to be more in the range of high single digits, down from double-digit gross profit