Monsanto's fiscal third-quarter profit slipped 3% as the world's largest seed company saw weaker seed sales and higher input costs, though adjusted earnings climbed above expectations.
For the quarter ended May 31, Monsanto reported a profit of $909 million, or $1.68 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $937 million, or $1.74 a share. Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings rose to $1.66 from $1.63 a year earlier. The company in May had forecast a profit of $1.55 to $1.60 a share.
Last month, Monsanto had said its third-quarter results would likely reflect the continued effect of higher production costs from the 2012 drought, and it would see decreased year-over-year contribution in the quarter from the Brazil soybean business. Still, at the time, the agricultural biotechnology company had also raised its outlook for 2013--the second such increase for the year--amid what it called continued overall growth in its global corn portfolio and strength in the agricultural productivity segment.
Net sales edged up 0.7% to $4.25 billion, below the $4.41 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Gross margin narrowed to 53.2% from 56% as input costs rose 7%.
Monsanto's seeds and genomics business - the company's biggest top-line contributor - saw a 2.4% decrease in sales to $3.05 billion. Meanwhile, revenue from agricultural productivity jumped 9.4% to $1.19 billion.
Monsanto's revenue for the most part has improved over the past two years.
Shares of Monsanto edged up 10 cents to $101.50 in recent premarket trading. The stock has risen 30% in the past 12 months.
