At its investor conference call, Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON - News) indicated that it will accelerate launches for its Genuity SmartStax corn and Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean products. The company emphasized its growth strategy from 2010 through 2012, which includes three operational imperatives: the conversion to Genuity SmartStax in U.S. corn, the upgradation to the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield platform in U.S. soybeans, and increased penetration in Latin America.
Monsanto now anticipates its new Genuity SmartStax corn seed will launch on more than 4 million acres in 2010, compared to its previous expectation of 3 million to 4 million acres. As a part of the accelerated adoption of Genuity SmartStax, the company unveiled a new portfolio of product upgrades for key U.S. corn segments.
For the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield platform in U.S. soybeans, Monsanto increased its launch-year expectation for 2010 to 8 - 10 million acres, compared to its previous projection of 7 - 8 million.
These launches, along with increased penetration in Latin America, are expected create opportunities for the company to meet its 2012 financial and commercial targets.
Monsanto is committed to doubling its gross profit by 2012 from 2007 levels. The company expects 2012 gross profit of $8.6 - $8.8 billion, including $7.3 - $7.5 billion from the Seeds and Genomics platform.
Monsanto reaffirmed fiscal year 2010 EPS guidance in the range of $3.10 - $3.30. Also, the company is confident of achieving its free cash flow target of $900 million to $1 billion for fiscal year 2010. The Zacks Consensus Earnings Estimate for fiscal 2010 is $3.27.
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