KWS SAAT AG provided earnings guidance for the nine months ending June 30, 2013 and full year ending September 30, 2013. The company posted growth in net sales in all product segments in the first nine months of fiscal 2013 (ending June 30). Corn and cereals business recorded double-digit growth rates. KWS' third-quarter performance is crucial to its success in the year as a whole, since the main contributors to its net sales - corn and sugarbeet - are sown in this period. On the strength of this gratifying trend, the company confirms its guidance for 2013, which it had raised in February, despite a higher R&D budget. Corn grows strongly - Net sales for cereals over the EUR 100 million mark for the first time. In the first nine months of fiscal 2013, KWS profited substantially from strong corn business in North and South America and from sugarbeet seed business in the U.S. Cereals business also developed very well, surpassing the EUR 100 million net sales mark for the first time. Overall, net sales of the KWS Group rose by 11.0% to EUR 880.9 million, while operating income (EBIT) increased by 8.5% to EUR 185.6 million.

The KWS Group expects net sales to grow by just over 15% to EUR 1,140 million for fiscal 2013 as a whole. Operating income is expected to be EUR 145 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 12.7%.