Agrochemical company Monsanto has posted a quarterly net loss on a drop in US sales of the herbicide Roundup.
Monsanto posted a net loss of $42 million, or 16 cents a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended August 31st, compared with a loss of $188 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier.
The company said depressed US weedkiller sales offset higher sales of cotton "traits" - genes inserted into seeds to give crops certain characteristics - to seed companies in the United States and India.
Overall, net sales for the quarter totaled $1.26 billion, down 3 percent from a year earlier.
The quarterly loss included after-tax restructuring charges of $44 million and a tax benefit of $5 million associated with a goodwill write-off of the global wheat business.
Monsanto increased its earnings-per-share growth projections for fiscal 2005 and 2006, forecasting growth of 10 percent to 18 percent in 2005 and 10 percent in 2006.