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Empresas y finanzas

Monsanto quarterly loss shrinks, record sales seen


    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Giant agricultural technology company Monsanto Co posted on Wednesday a smaller fourth-quarter loss on record revenues, as herbicide and seed sales climbed.

    The herbicide and biotech seed producer said reported a loss from continuing operations for the quarter ended August 31 of $172 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of 18 cents a share on an ongoing basis.

    Analysts were expecting a loss of 4 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

    Quarterly sales totaled a record $2 billion, up 35 percent from a year before.

    The company said its fiscal 2008 adjusted earnings totaled $3.64 a share. Wall Street was looking for $3.65 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

    St. Louis-based Monsanto offered an updated forecast to Wall Street just last week in a bid to restore investor confidence after its shares plummeted as part of a larger market slide.

    The company said it was increasing its gross profit target for 2012 to between $9.5 billion and $9.75 billion, up from $8 billion previously.

    (Reporting by Carey Gillam, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)