Monsanto To Cut 2,600 Jobs As Demand For GMO Seeds And Cancer Causing Herbicides Declines

Monsanto, the company you love to hate is cutting 2600 jobs due to falling sales of GMO seeds and cancer causing herbicides. This is just the beginning for America’s most hated company…I can’t wait to watch this one in slow motion. Read more from the dinosaur media:

Monsanto Co. said Wednesday it will eliminate 2,600 jobs as part of a cost-saving plan designed to deal with falling sales of its biotech seeds and herbicides, which pushed its quarterly losses deeper into the red.
The job cuts will reduce the company’s 22,500-employee workforce of by about 12 percent over the next two years.
The St. Louis-based agricultural giant predicts the move will generate between $275 million and $300 million in annual savings by the end of fiscal 2017. The cost of the reorganization — which will streamline sales, R&D and other departments — is estimated at $850 million to $900 million.
Monsanto’s last round of layoffs came in June 2009, when the company slashed 900 jobs.
CEO Hugh Grant pointed to the negative impact of foreign exchange rates as well as falling crop prices that have squeezed farmers.
“Despite weakening global currencies and commodity prices we continue to view this as a time of opportunity,” Grant said on a call with analysts.
Monsanto has struggled in recent quarters to deal with slumping corn prices in the U.S., which have reduced demand for its best-selling product: genetically-enhanced corn seeds. Farmers are shifting more acres to other crops due to a surplus of corn from last year’s harvest. Even with that shift, 2015 is expected to bring the third-largest corn harvest on record, squashing prices and limiting farmers’ profits.
Monsanto’s biotech seeds have genetically engineered traits that help farmers increase their crop yield, despite their higher costs.
Monsanto announced the lay-offs as it reported a $495 million loss for its fiscal fourth quarter.
The company posted a net loss of $1.06 per share, compared with a net loss of $156 million, or 31 cents per share, a year ago. Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 19 cents per share. That was still below the average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research who were looking for a loss of 1 cent per share.
The company’s sales also missed Wall Street forecasts, falling more than 10 percent to $2.36 billion during the period. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.89 billion.
Sales of Monsanto’s best-selling product, biotech corn seeds, fell 5 percent to $598 million. Meanwhile, the company’s chemical business, led by Roundup weed killer, also fell 12 percent to $1.1 billion.