Are their profits going down simply because of the market?
The St. Louis-based agricultural giant announced the reductions -- the equivalent of 12 percent of its workforce -- as it reported a loss of 19 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter and warned profit would remain weak through 2016.[my emphasis]Like DuPont Co. and Glencore Plc, Monsanto, the world’s largest seed maker, is taking steps to combat the effects of a commodity slump that reduced farmer incomes for two straight years. Moves to trim expenses include re-prioritizing some research and development efforts and exiting the sugar-cane business to save as much as $300 million a year. Still, the company said it plans to meet its goal of doubling per-share earnings in five years from 2014.
The world's commodities market has been dropping. The science claims from Monsanto have been taking deeper hits these past few months and Monsanto has also been facing more legal pushback than ever before.
But don't worry, I'm sure they will hire everybody back when they're back on top.
The cost savings, buybacks and improved agriculture and currency markets as well as sales of a new genetically modified soybean called Intacta Pro should allow a return to per-share earnings growth exceeding 20 percent a year by fiscal 2017, the company said. Additional restructuring plans being developed could reduce expenses by an additional $100 million, Monsanto said.