Monsanto posts higher than expected Q1 profits on corn sales

MONSANTO Co, the world’s largest seed company, posted higher first-quarter profit than analysts estimated after genetically modified corn and soyabean sales rose.

Net income was $6 million (€4.49m), or 1 cent a share, in the three months ended November 30, compared with a net loss of $19 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier, St Louis-based Monsanto said in a statement. Per-share earnings excluding restructuring costs were 2 cents, topping the 1-cent average estimate of 14 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Sales rose 7.8% to $1.83 billion from $1.7 billion.

CEO Hugh Grant is trying to win back investor confidence after profit fell 47% in the last fiscal year, his worst performance in seven years as CEO. He’s betting lower prices for newly developed corn and soybean seeds will halt market-share losses to DuPont Co and boost earnings by 15% a year.

“2011 is a year of rebuilding credibility with growers and investors,” Don Carson, a New York-based analyst at Susquehanna International Group LLP who rates the shares “positive,” said in a January 2 report.

Profit excluding some items will rise to $2.72 to $2.82 per share in the 2011 fiscal year, from $2.41 a year earlier, Monsanto said, reiterating a forecast initially made in October.

The average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was $2.79.