Corteva's seed segment EBITDA down 15 pct

Corteva Agriscience's seed segment EBITDA dropped 15% to USD 1.36 bln, USD 237 mln less from H1 2018.

At the same time, EBITDA for Q2 2019 decreased by 11% to USD 1.04 bln. The current EBITDA margin fell by 1.5 p.p. to 24%.

Seed net sales were USD 5.7 bln for the first six months of 2019, down 8% from the first six months of 2018. The decline in volume was driven by weather-related impacts in North America and the impact of early deliveries of corn seed in the fourth quarter 2018, which were partially offset by favourable corn seed demand in EMEA. Unfavourable currency impacts were driven predominately by the Euro. The decrease in local price was driven by the impact of the North American market.

Weather-related planting delays and lower than the expected planted area in corn, soybeans, and canola pressured sales in North America, and together with an unfavourable currency impact, drove a decrease in net sales of 3% in the second quarter 2019 versus the same period last year.

Corteva revised its full-year guidance of pro forma operating EBITDA to a range of USD 1.9 bln to USD 2.05 bln. Net sales for the full year are expected to be down about 3%.

In the first six months of 2019, Corteva Agriscience reduced its revenues from product sales by 6% — from USD 9.525 bln in the second half of 2018 to USD 8.952 bln.