UPDATE: Monsanto Posts Wider-Than-Expected Q4 Loss, Revenue Beats View

Monsanto Co MON reported a wider-than-expected net loss for the fiscal fourth quarter. The St. Louis, Missouri-based company posted a quarterly net loss of $156 million, or $0.31 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $249 million, or $0.47 per share. Its loss from its ongoing business came in at $0.27 per share. Its sales rose to $2.630 billion from $2.202 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.24 per share on sales of $2.41 billion. Seeds and Genomics segment net sales surged to $1.38 billion from $1.12 billion, while Agricultural Productivity segment net sales climbed to $1.25 billion from $1.02 billion. “We're confident in our ability to deliver the targets we've set in both the near term and over the longer term,” said Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer for Monsanto. “In an industry that's particularly near-term focused right now, there are few companies as well positioned to deliver strong growth today while significantly increasing investments to enable the continued delivery of a broad range of innovative solutions for tomorrow.” Monsanto now projects FY15 earnings of $5.75 to $6.00 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $6.03 per share. It expects cash flow at $2 billion to $2.2 billion. Monsanto shares fell 1.28% to $106.85 in pre-market trading.