FMC’s Agchem Business Beating Expectations
14 December 2012 FMC Corp. is poised to exceed its $5 billion 2015 sales target by at least 10%, the diversified chemical company said at an investor news conference this week, helped by better-than-expected performance in its agricultural products division.
“We developed an aggressive, but achievable, strategy to unlock the growth potential of FMC, leading to a larger, more profitable, faster growing specialty chemicals company,” FMC Chairman and CEO Pierre Brondeau said at the investor meeting. “Halfway through our plan, we are well on our way to achieve or exceed our targets. We’ve delivered exceptional results over the last several years, despite continuing macroeconomic uncertainty.”
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based FMC expects EBIT, or earnings before interest and taxes, to meet or exceed its 2015 target of $1.2 billion, about 2.5 times its EBIT in 2009. EBIT is up 50% over the last three years.
The Agricultural Products Group, its largest division, is projected to deliver sales of about $2.8 billion and EBIT of approximately $675 million in 2015. Performance drivers include a rich pipeline with sustained premium margins and a unique manufacturing and R&D model that deliver results at lower cost. FMC focuses on niche crops where it has technical differentiation rather than row crops.
“Ag products is fully expected to exceed our initial targets, doubling sales and EBIT in five years,” Brondeau said at the investor meeting.
FMC expects adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to grow at a rate of about 18% to 22% per year through 2015. For 2013, it anticipates adjusted EPS growth in the mid-teens percent range versus 2012.
Brondeau added: “Our growth through 2015 and beyond also will be driven by technology investments that support commercial success, continued expansion in fast-growing rapidly developing economies and our ongoing rebalancing of FMC’s centralized/decentralized organizational model that leverages our size without compromising strong business accountability.”
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