澳大利亚维多利亚州农用化学品集团 纽发姆有限公司.超过市场预测，部分原因是欧洲和北美的增长强于预期，报告 路透社的数据，. Despite the strong showing, Nufarm did not change its full-year profit growth forecast of around 34% to US $149 million — an amount analysts say is probably a conservative estimate. Nufarm’s earnings in previous years have typically been skewed 80% towards the second-half, based on a heavier reliance on sales in Australia. This year, says Managing Director Doug Rathbone, the second-half is likely to make up around 70% of earnings.
Rathbone says North America and Europe will help drive the company’s growth in the second half, bolstered by last year’s acquisitions, new products,
以及向棉花种植者等新部门的销售。根据 Rathbone 的说法，Nufarm 在接下来的几个月内不太可能进行收购；然而，该公司可能仍在寻找一块 Dow Chemical Co’s agricultural sciences unit, which is estimated to fetch between $5 billion and $7 billion. “We’ll hang around the hoop,” Rathbone said, noting that Dow’s entire ag business was far too big for Nufarm. “We’re always interested in things that are accretive and work well for our business.”
Nufarm 还宣布将出售其在一家欧洲合资企业中的 25% 股份， 拜耳作物科学，关闭了法国的一家除草剂制造厂，转而直接从拜耳购买产品。由于与法国工会的谈判才刚刚开始，拉思伯恩拒绝透露这笔交易的任何金额。不过，他说，将裁减不到 30 个工作岗位，下一个财政年度将开始为 Nufarm 节省开支。