Hot weather hits Nufarm’s pesticide sales

Date:01-23-2013

Pesticide company Nufarm has warned that profits in its Australian business were expected to fall sharply in the second half of the year after months of hot weather hurt its east-coast sales.

Scorching weather has parched fields across Queensland and northern New South Wales for the past two months, meaning farmers needed to buy fewer of the pesticides, weedkillers and other chemicals that Nufarm produces than expected, company said in a filing to the stock exchange.

"The Australia/New Zealand regional segment result at the half year is now expected to be well down on the first half of the previous year," said the filing.

Overall, however, Nufarm said it still expects its underlying profits to rise by at least 15 per cent in the second half of fiscal 2013 from a year earlier thanks to good results from its South American and European business.