April 29, 2014 (Reuters) - Syngenta, a firm that makes seeds and pesticides, reported sharp declines in first-quarter revenue and earnings on Monday. This comes just a few weeks after the Swiss company postponed its intention to float for $10 billion.
According to Syngenta, sales dropped 20% to $7.4 billion, while core operating profit (EBITDA) dropped 34% to $1.2 billion as farmers continued to deplete their inventories rather than purchase new pesticides and seeds.
Retailers and distributors were destocking due to higher borrowing rates, according to Syngenta, with the crop protection industry suffering the most with 20% lower sales.
The Chinese-owned company that competes with US companies Corteva (CTVA.N), BASF (BASFn.DE) of Germany, and Bayer (BAYGn.DE) of Germany reported an 8% decrease in revenue in the seeds industry.
During a period of downturn in the Chinese equity market in March, Syngenta abandoned its request for a multibillion dollar listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Due to unfavorable market conditions, the initial public offering (IPO), which was supposed to value the Sinochem-owned firm at much to $60 billion, has been continuously postponed since it was first suggested in 2021.
In March, Syngenta announced that it is seeking alternative funding sources and will resume the listing process in China or elsewhere "when the conditions are right".
