Syngenta: Agrochemicals Syngenta Group makes less turnover and profit

A Syngenta employee infects wheat for active ingredient tests in a greenhouse in Stein. (archive picture) Keystone The Syngenta Group once again generated lower sales in the 2024 financial year than in the previous year. Because lower sales volumes also dampened sales prices, operating profit fell even more sharply. Keystone-SDA 26.03.2025, 09:08 SDA The crop protection and seeds manufacturer generated sales of 28.8 billion US dollars in the reporting year, 10 percent less than in the previous year. Calculated at constant exchange rates, this resulted in a drop of 7 percent. This was partly due to the fact that wholesalers and retailers had further reduced their stocks of crop protection products, Syngenta explained in a press release on Wednesday. These had been significantly increased in previous years as a result of supply chain disruptions. According to Syngenta, unfavorable weather conditions also had a negative impact, while lower crop prices also reduced farmers' incomes. The company also noted high price pressure for crop protection products, driven by increasing production capacities for generics. Profit falls significantly At 13.2 billion dollars, crop protection products accounted for just under half of sales. Syngenta put the decline in the Crop Protection division at 13 percent, with sales in North America in particular falling by a quarter. The generics subsidiary Adama (-11%) also achieved significantly lower sales than in the previous year and the independently reported national company Syngenta Group China shrank by 9 percent. The new "home market" since the purchase by Chemchina contributed sales of 9.6 billion dollars. Only Syngenta's seeds division was able to maintain its sales. Cost savings and lower raw material costs could only partially offset falling sales prices and volumes, Syngenta explained further. Specifically, operating profit at EBITDA level fell by 15 percent to 3.9 billion dollars. Excluding exchange rates, however, it was only 1 percent down on the previous year. To mitigate the lower volumes and prices, Syngenta continued to focus on measures to improve operational efficiency and productivity. Nevertheless, the Group's EBITDA margin fell by 0.7 percentage points to 13.5 percent. Signs point to recovery Looking ahead, Syngenta expects that the reduction in customer inventories should be "largely" completed this year. A market recovery is therefore expected in the second half of the year. Syngenta's profitability should therefore increase again this year, also thanks to restructuring measures. The Syngenta Group is based in Switzerland and is under Chinese ownership. It comprises the business units Syngenta Crop Protection based in Switzerland, Syngenta Seeds based in the USA, Adama based in Israel and Syngenta Group China. Syngenta AG was acquired by Chemchina in 2015.