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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (944)	1/21/1999 10:26:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Bloomberg: Monsanto 4th-Qtr Profit Falls 51% After Acquisitions (Update1) Bloomberg News January 21, 1999, 9:52 a.m. ET Monsanto 4th-Qtr Profit Falls 51% After Acquisitions (Update1) (Adds comment from CEO; figures for the year, market activity) St. Louis, Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co., an agricultural biotechnology and drug company, said its fourth- quarter earnings fell 51 percent, in line with analysts' expectations, as increased spending on acquisitions and research eroded revenue from its herbicides and pharmaceuticals. The St. Louis-based maker of Roundup herbicide and the insomnia drug Ambien, said profit before charges fell to $27 million, or 5 cents a diluted share, from profit before charges of $55 million, or 9 cents, in the year-earlier period. The results matched the average estimate of 5 cents a share forecast by 14 analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. Revenue rose 18 percent to $2.1 billion from $1.8 billion in the year-ago period. The decline comes two months after St. Louis-based Monsanto said it would cut up to 1,000 jobs and raise $5 billion in debt, equity and asset sales to help pay off $6 billion in seed company acquisitions. Today Monsanto said it expects to cut about 1,700 jobs in 1999, more than it originally expected. The job cuts will take place across all segments of the company. ''Our efforts in 1999 will be centered on continuing to grow strong base businesses like Roundup herbicide, integrating our newly acquired seed companies, commercializing new products like Celebrex arthritis treatment, and accelerating the development of our product pipeline,'' said Robert Shapiro, Monsanto's chief executive, in a statement. In the latest quarter, a pretax charge of $625 million, or 68 cents a share, to cover the cost of eliminating jobs and writing down assets being sold, and a pretax charge of $233 million, or 33 cents, to write of research associated with its acquisition of DeKalb Genetics Corp., resulted in a loss from continuing operations of $603 million, or $1.00 a share. In the year-ago quarter, a charge of $50 million, or 8 cents a share to write off research underway at an acquired company, led to net income of $5 million, or 1 cent a share. For the full year, Monsanto's profit from continuing operations before charges fell 22 percent to $580 million, or 93 cents a share, from $749 million, or $1.23 a share in 1997. After charges in both years to cover reorganization costs and to write off acquired research, Monsanto posted a loss from continuing operations of $250 million, or 41 cents in 1998, compared to net income from continuing operations of $5 million, or 1 cent, in 1997. Revenue for the year rose 15 percent to $8.6 billion from $7.5 billion in 1997. Monsanto shares rose 5/8 to 40 9/16 in early trading. --Toni Clarke in the Chicago newsroom (312) 692-3725 /mfr