Monsanto 1Q profit nearly triples

ST. LOUIS - Monsanto Co. reported Thursday that its first-quarter earnings nearly tripled because of surprisingly strong herbicide and seed sales in Latin America. It boosted its earnings forecast for the year, sending its shares up by 8.5 percent.

The world's biggest seed company earned $256 million, or 46 cents per share, during the first fiscal quarter ended Nov. 30 — almost triple its profit of $90 million, or 16 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Revenue during the first quarter surged 36 percent to $2.1 billion, from $1.54 billion in the prior-year period.

The results beat expectations on Wall Street, where analysts had predicted a profit of 35 cents per share on revenue of $1.87 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Monsanto's stock rose $9.45, or 8.5 percent, to $120.92 Thursday after rising to a 52-week high of $123 in earlier trading. Its shares have traded as low as $49.10 over the past year.

Unexpectedly strong Latin American sales of the herbicide Roundup caused Monsanto to increase its year-end profit forecast to between $2.50 to $2.60 a share from between $2.20 to $2.40 a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect Monsanto to deliver profits of $2.59 per share this year, near the high end of Monsanto's new guidance.

CEO Hugh Grant said he was impressed with the jump in Roundup sales, but the company still plans to reap most of its future profit growth from developing new genetically engineered seeds.

"While we're delighted with the work of the Roundup teams globally, our success in seeds and traits will ultimately determine how we meet our 2008 commitments and our 2012 targets," Grant told analysts during a conference call Thursday morning.

Rising sales of Roundup in Brazil and Argentina mean the herbicide will deliver roughly $1 billion in gross profit by the end of the year, up from the $950 million the company estimated just over a month ago, said Chief Financial Officer Terrell Crews.

The company said total seed and genomics sales rose to $836 million from $680 million in the year-ago quarter. Agricultural sales rose to $1.26 billion from $859 million a year ago.