Winnipeg, Manitoba
May 10, 2004
Decision follows portfolio
review, consultation with growers
Monsanto announced today
it is realigning research and development investments to
accelerate the development of new and improved traits in corn,
cotton, and oilseeds. As part of this realignment, the company
is deferring all further efforts to introduce Roundup Ready
wheat, until such time that other wheat biotechnology traits are
introduced. This decision was reached after a comprehensive
review of Monsanto's research investment portfolio and extensive
consultation with customers in the wheat industry.
"As a result of our portfolio review and dialogue with wheat
industry leaders, we recognize the business opportunities with
Roundup Ready spring wheat are less attractive relative to
Monsanto's other commercial priorities," said Carl Casale,
executive vice president of Monsanto. "Acreage planted in the
spring wheat market in the United States and Canada has declined
nearly 25 percent since 1997, and even more in the higher cost
weed control target market for this product. This technology
adds value for only a segment of spring wheat growers, resulting
in a lack of widespread wheat industry alignment, unlike the
alignment we see in other crops where biotechnology is broadly
applied. These factors underscore the difficulty of bringing new
technologies to the wheat
market at this time.
"We will continue to monitor the wheat industry's desire for
crop improvements, via breeding and biotechnology, to determine
if and when it might be practical to move forward with a biotech
wheat product," Casale said. "This decision allows us to defer
commercial development of Roundup Ready wheat, in order to align
with the potential commercialization of other biotechnology
traits in wheat, estimated to be four to eight years in the
future."
Shifting resources away from Roundup Ready wheat enables
Monsanto to increase its research emphasis on stress tolerance
and several improved health profile vegetable oil traits.
Overall, Monsanto's biotechnology research and development
focuses on providing new solutions in the areas of yield
improvement and stress tolerance, agronomic pest resistance
traits, and food and feed improvement traits.
"We have pipeline products like Roundup Ready Flex for cotton
and an improved soybean oil for food manufacturers from our
conventional breeding program that are moving close to
commercialization," said Casale. "We also saw good results in
our field trials for drought tolerant corn in 2003, and we will
be expanding our field trials in 2004.
"Wheat growers are already experiencing the benefits of biotech,
but in other crops such as corn, soy, and canola, which are
increasingly being grown on acreage formerly devoted to wheat,"
according to Casale. "Growers will continue to benefit as we
bring traits such as cold stress and drought tolerance to the
marketplace."
Monsanto began the technical development stage of Roundup Ready
wheat in 1997. Six years of field testing by Monsanto scientists
and academic researchers demonstrate that Roundup Ready wheat
performs exceptionally well under the most difficult production
environments for spring-planted wheat and offers the potential
to increase yields by 5 percent to 15 percent.
Monsanto will discontinue breeding and field level research of
Roundup Ready wheat. The company will be working with regulators
around the world to take appropriate next steps with regard to
regulatory submissions.
Monsanto's investment in wheat in fiscal year 2004 has been less
than $5 million, or less than one percent of the company's $500
million research and development budget. Funds budgeted for
wheat will be redeployed to other
research and development efforts. The company announced on May
4, 2004, that it is increasing its fiscal year 2004 earnings per
share (EPS) guidance, now expected to be in the range of $1.55
on an ongoing basis for the 2004 fiscal year. Even with this
decision, the company is maintaining its reported and ongoing
earnings per share guidance for fiscal year 2004, and its
projected 10 percent compounded annual growth rate for earnings
per share on an ongoing basis for 2005 and 2006.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
Roundup Ready is a trademark owned by Monsanto Company and its
wholly owned subsidiaries.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure
This release uses the non-GAAP financial measure of earnings per
share (EPS) excluding the effect of certain items. A non-GAAP
EPS financial measure (which the company sometimes refers to as
EPS from ongoing business) may exclude the impact of
restructuring charges, charges associated with the settlement of
litigation, gains and losses on the sale of assets, and certain
other items. The specific items that are excluded from, and
result in, the company's non-GAAP EPS financial measure are
clearly identified as such in this release. The disclosure of
EPS excluding the effect of certain items is intended to
supplement investors' understanding of the company's operating
performance. This non-GAAP financial measure may not be
comparable to similar measures used by other companies.
Furthermore, this non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to
replace net income (loss), cash flows, financial position, or
comprehensive income (loss), as determined in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
The non-GAAP financial measure used in this release is
reconciled to the most directly comparable financial measure
calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP below.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP EPS
------------------------------
Fiscal Year 2004
Target
----------------
Net Income $0.70
2004 Restructuring Charges - Net $0.46
Estimated 2004 Discontinued Operations and
Related Restructuring Charges - Net
$0.13
Goodwill Impairment Charge for Global Wheat Business $0.26
----------------
Net Income from Ongoing Business
$1.55
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