Corteva beats estimates for quarterly profit on strong seed sales

Agrichemicals firm Corteva CTVA beat estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as strong performance in its North American seed business offset weakness in its crop protection unit.

Corteva's seed business has benefited from higher demand in its key North American market as corn cultivation and harvest in the United States remained steady in the quarter.

Net sales from its seed segment rose 2% to $2.75 billion, backed by a 6% rise in prices. Shares of the company rose 2% in trading after the bell.

However, overall net sales declined 8% to $4.49 billion, due to weakness in its crop protection segment that supplies pesticide and herbicide.

Corteva, spun off in 2019 after a merger of Dow Chemical and Dupont, reported a 20% decline in net sales at crop protection unit to $1.74 billion.

The company said it saw an 18% decline in volumes in the unit, with destocking continuing in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

CEO Chuck Magro said the company was expecting growth in the second half of the year in the crop protection segment.

It reaffirmed its net sales forecast of $17.4 billion to $17.7 billion for the year.

The Indianapolis-based company reported operating earnings of 89 cents per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts' estimate of 84 cents per share, according to LSEG data.