7-Business: GE seed sales help Monsanto surpass forecasts

[GENET <coordination@genet-info.org>]

                                  PART I
-------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------

TITLE:  Modified-Seed Sales Help Monsanto Surpass Forecasts
SOURCE: Reuters / The New York Times, USA
        http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/business/01seed.html
DATE:   1 Jul 2004 

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Modified-Seed Sales Help Monsanto Surpass Forecasts

Monsanto reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday, as a
result of strong sales of herbicides and genetically modified seeds.

The company, based in St. Louis, attributed the improvement to an
earlier-than-normal rush to use herbicide products on North American farm
fields, and to steady growth in bioengineered soybeans, corn and other
crops. On Wall Street, the shares rose to the highest level in three years.

Monsanto's net income increased 45 percent, to $252 million, or 93 cents
a share, in the fiscal third quarter ended May 31, compared with $174
million, or 66 cents, in the quarter a year earlier. The results
surpassed analysts' expectations of 85 cents. Monsanto last week forecast
earnings at 90 cents a share.

Revenue was up 14 percent, to $1.68 billion from $1.47 billion a year earlier.

The planting of biotechnology crops is hotly debated and opposition is
stiff in many parts of the world. But farmers in the United States have
embraced genetically modified soybeans, and new Monsanto corn seed and
other products are making inroads both domestically and abroad, the
company says.

The chairman of Monsanto, Hugh Grant, said the company was pushing
forward with new biotechnology products, including a variety of corn that
has been modified to protect against insects. The corn has recently
received approval in Japan and will be introduced in the United States
next year.

Mr. Grant reiterated that the increasing focus on bioengineered-seeds
businesses was expected to result in compound annual earnings growth of
10 percent a share in 2005 and 2006. "That is really the main driver for
our future growth," he said.

To capitalize on the popularity of its biotechnology crops, Mr. Grant
said that Monsanto would raise prices next year for certain Roundup Ready
soybeans by $4 to $5 an acre and by $2 an acre for Roundup Ready corn.

The company also said its quarterly results benefited from a reduced tax
rate, to 24 percent from 33 percent, after resolution of several matters
with the Internal Revenue Service.

Monsanto's stock rose $1.30 yesterday, to close at $38.50 on the New York
Stock Exchange.


                                  PART II
-------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------

TITLE:  Monsanto completes regulatory process in Japan for its YieldGard
Plus insect-protected corn technology
SOURCE: 
        http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2004/june/9151.htm
DATE:   30 Jun 2004 

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Monsanto completes regulatory process in Japan for its YieldGard Plus
insect-protected corn technology

 Monsanto Company has completed all necessary regulatory steps in Japan
for its YieldGard Plus insect-protected corn technology. This means that
YieldGard Plus corn is now available for sale and planting in the U.S. in
the states in which it is registered. YieldGard Plus corn provides
growers with in-seed protection, allowing the corn plant to protect
itself against the damaging Western, Northern and Mexican corn rootworm
larvae and the European and Southwestern corn borers. The corn rootworm
and the European corn borer have earned the nickname the "billion-dollar
bugs" as experts in the industry estimate that each pest costs U.S. corn
growers approximately $1 billion annually. Monsanto's YieldGard Plus had
previously completed the regulatory approval processes in the United
States and Canada. YieldGard Plus corn represents Monsanto's third
stacked-trait technology offering for corn hybrids, and will serve as the
springboard for the industry's first triple trait approach - YieldGard
Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2 technology.


BACKGROUND
Original US YieldGard Plus news release that was issued in the fall of
2003: http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/media/03/11-03-03.asp
Corn Rootworm backgrounder:
www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/media/backgrounders/rw_backgrounder.pdf
Corn Borer backgrounder:
www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/media/backgrounders/cb_backgrounder.pdf




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European NGO Network on Genetic Engineering

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