(Bloomberg) -- Agriculture seed behemoth Corteva Inc. says crop problems in parts of South America mean the company is likely to fall short of its earlier 2024 profit forecast.
The top end of the company’s full-year estimate for adjusted operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is “probably off the table,” Corteva Chief Executive Officer Chuck Magro said at a BMO agriculture conference on Tuesday.
The Indianapolis-based company previously said it expected the closely-watched measure to be in the range of $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion.
Shares of Corteva fell as much as 4% in intraday trading before paring some of the losses.
Corn planting in Argentina has been a recent headache for farmers due to a lack of adequate rainfall. And the pain probably isn’t over: Growers are bracing for more dryness ahead as a La Niña climate pattern develops. The Corteva CEO also expressed concern about possible dryness hurting Brazil’s next corn crop, though he added that it’s too early to tell. Corteva will give its initial outlook for 2025 in November, Magro said.
“I’m not going to get hung up on the second half of ’24,” he added, calling the overall future of the company “quite bright.”
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