Makhteshim Agan Posts Record Sales on Buoyant Brazil

Erez Vigodman, MAI President and CEO

Erez Vigodman, MAI President and CEO

Makhteshim Agan Group, the off-patent crop protection company, said its quarterly profit jumped 37% from a year earlier on strong sales, particularly in Brazil.

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Sales in the third quarter totaled $732 million, up 14% from $643.5 million in the same period a year ago, excluding the effect of foreign currency translations, which lifted sales an extra 2 percentage points.

MAI attributed the increase to higher volume and prices, which compensated for weakening currencies in Asia-Pacific. Latin America, notably Brazil, accounted for its strongest area regionally, both by total sales and growth at $237.6 million, up 26.4%.

The company earned $18 million in the period, compared with $13.1 million a year earlier.

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Erez Vigodman, president and CEO of Makhteshim Agan, said, “I am very pleased to report the highest third quarter sales by MAI in our history and significant growth in all financial indicators for the quarter and the first nine months of the year. We were able to improve our gross profit, operating profit, EBITDA and net income for the quarter, despite adverse weather conditions in North America and significant weakening of some of the key currencies in which the company operates in the APAC region.”

Vigodman added: “We are encouraged by our progress on various operational and commercial fronts as we advance our strategic plan to build a solid platform in China and to improve our portfolio allowing us to offer effective solutions to farmers worldwide.”

MAI Pursues Growth in China

MAI said it is continuing to promote its strategic plan to build an operational and commercial infrastructure in China, and it is in the process of “examining the acquisition of all or part of the shares or assets” of several companies controlled by CNAC, the ChemChina subsidiary that acquired MAI in October 2011.

During the quarter, MAI announced a tender offer for the publicly traded shares of Hubei Sanonda, as ChemChina majority-owned MAI builds its platform there. It said it is also considering acquiring Sanonda’s Type A shares that are indirectly held by CNAC and represent 20.15% of the issued and paid up capital of Sanonda.

Yang Xingqiang, MAI chairman, said that building a fully integrated platform in China along with the strategic processes MAI management is leading “are important elements of our future development. Our initiatives are aimed at achieving profitable growth, and improving the global competitive position of the company in the agrochemical sector.”

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