January 08, 2014 - 8:26 AM
WASHINGTON - Monsanto's earnings rose 8.6 per cent in the agriculture products company's first fiscal quarter on higher sales of its insect-repelling soybean seeds.
The St. Louis company says it earned $368 million, or 69 cents per share in the three months ended Nov. 30. That compares to earnings of $339 million, or 63 cents per share, in last year's quarter. Revenue climbed 7 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 64 cents per share on sales of $3.06 billion in revenue for the quarter.
Monsanto has dominated the bioengineered-seed business for more than a decade. Recently the company has focused its business on emerging markets like Argentina, Brazil and parts of Asia.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014