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March 2 (Reuters) - Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Co MON.N , the world's largest
seed company, slashed its earnings forecast for the year, hurt
by a strong dollar and low prices for its seeds as farmers curb
spending.
Monsanto's shares were down 5.3 percent at $87.60 in
premarket trading on Wednesday.
The company is also under pressure due to the ongoing merger
between DuPont (NYSE:DD) DD.N and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) Co DOW.N , a deal that
could shake up the industry.
Monsanto had warned in January that souring farm economy and
currency woes would push its 2016 earnings to the lower half of
its original forecast in December.
Monsanto said on Wednesday it now expects adjusted earnings
per share of $4.40-$5.10, compared with the $5.10-$5.60 it had
forecast in December.
About 25-30 cents of the reduction in the earnings per share
outlook is due to the impact of the stronger dollar, Monsanto
said.
The St. Louis-based company also trimmed its cash flow
forecast for the year to $1.4 billion-$1.6 billion from $1.6
billion-$1.8 billion.
Monsanto said it now expects full-year net earnings per
share of $3.42-$4.29, down from its previous forecast of
$4.00-$4.66.