(Reuters) – Agrichemicals company Syngenta more than doubled its third-quarter core profit compared to a particularly weak prior-year quarter, but fell short of the previous quarter’s result citing bad weather, price pressure and customer restraints.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at $0.7 billion in the July-September period after $0.3 billion last year, when earnings were hit by weak demand particularly in its key market Brazil.
Third-quarter sales were flat year-on-year at $6.8 billion but down 5.6% from the second quarter, the Chinese-owned company said. Sales at its Syngenta Group China unit increased 11% year-on-year thanks to new seeds.
Syngenta said the crop protection market was showing initial signs of recovery. It expects the market to gradually recover in the second half of 2025, hoping for higher crop prices and a decline in overcapacities.
German rival BASF on Wednesday flagged an earnings decline in its agriculture division, where the company too pointed to lower prices for agricultural goods as a dampener for agrichemical demand.
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier and Bernadette Hogg, Editing by Kirsti Knolle)
