Reports of financial woes for agribusiness giant Monsanto are irrelevant to Monsanto Canada, said a spokesperson.
Company shares that were trading at $145 US in mid 2008 have dipped below $50 and have declined by 42 percent in 2010.
U.S. analysts blame poor performance by some of the company’s new products, particularly SmartStax corn and Roundup Ready 2 Yield, and reduced sales of Roundup in the wake of imports of cheap generic product from China.
The New York Timesquoted one analyst as saying Monsanto “may be the worst stock of 2010.”
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But Trish Jordan of Monsanto Canada said things are different on this side of the border.
“We’re a different market, we have a different climate and we price our products to fit the market we’re operating in,” she said.
“Our experience with new generation Genuity products SmartStax and Roundup Ready 2 Yield is completely the opposite. We’ve had nothing but positive results, with yields of Roundup Ready 2 Yield exceeding target by seven to 11 percent.”
She also said criticisms of the new products in the U.S. are early season results based on limited volumes and samples.
For the fourth quarter of its 2009-10 financial year, Monsanto posted a loss of $143 million on net sales of $1.95 billion, up four percent from the same period a year ago, and above analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion.
Jordan said the Canadian arm of Monsanto probably had the best year of any of the company’s global areas.
“From a financial perspective, the Canadian seed and trade business is very, very strong,” she said.
