ST. LOUIS — New soybean and cotton technology pushed Monsanto Company to record sales in fiscal year 2017, according to figures the company released Oct. 4.
Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer for Monsanto, said the record sales and gross profit in the seeds and genomics segment were “fueled by the outstanding penetration of our latest soybean and cotton technologies and continued adoption of our newest corn hybrids.”
The company, which is continuing to close on its merger with Bayer, also had an as-reported earnings per share of $5.09, as compared to last year’s as-reported full-year earnings per share of $2.99.
The numbers
Monsanto reported net sales of $2.7 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. Net sales for the full fiscal year were $14.6 billion.
Full-year net sales were up more than $1 billion year-over-year, due primarily to record technology adoption for the newest soybean technologies across the Americas, and global corn pricing.
Seeds and Genomics segment net sales were $1.7 billion for the quarter. For the full year, net sales for the Seeds and Genomics segment were $10.9 billion. In soybeans, gross profit grew 35 percent compared to last fiscal year.
Agricultural Productivity segment net sales were $939 million for the quarter, while net sales for the Agricultural Productivity segment for the fiscal year were $3.7 billion.
Net income attributable to Monsanto for fiscal year 2017 was approximately $2.3 billion compared to net income of $1.3 billion attributable to Monsanto in fiscal year 2016.
Outlook
The pending merger with Bayer may change the scenario, but growth drivers in the Seeds and Genomics segment are expected to continue, such as adoption and pricing of Intacta RR2 Pro soybeans in South America (the company expects more than 60 million acres planted in South America in fiscal year 2018); continued adoption of Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, and the launch of new corn hybrids around the world.
In addition, the company expects to reach 50 million paid acres globally for the Climate FieldView platform, and growth from the multi-crop U.S. launch of NemaStrike Technology.
Xtend family
The company hit several milestones in the initial launch year of the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, including EPA approval for in-crop use of XtendiMax Herbicide with VaporGrip Technology and tank mix partners, and the availability of more than 120 Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean varieties across all relative maturity groups.
Monsanto now expects that, together with its licensee partners, it will have supply to double the adoption to more than 40 million acres in the 2018 season.
