FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The shares of KWS Saat ended their price consolidation of recent weeks on Tuesday and reached their highest level since the beginning of February. The driving force behind the recovery is the sale of the corn business including licenses in South America.

In the morning, the shares peaked at 51.20 euros. Most recently, they gained 7.7 percent to EUR 50.3015 in first place on the SDax, while the small cap index posted a gain of 0.6 percent. KWS Saat is also moving at the upper limit of its downward trend, which has been in place since the beginning of 2023, and has now broken it.

The selling price of the corn business amounts to a mid three-digit million euro amount, the seed manufacturer announced. The buyer is the Argentinian family-owned company GDM. The transaction will have a significant positive impact on key financial figures, it said. Analyst Charlie Bentley from investment firm Jefferies praised the move. Strategically, KWS Saat is now focusing on sustainable and profitable growth.

With the sale of the corn business in South America, the seed manufacturer has prioritized the growth opportunities of the vegetable seed business there, wrote analyst Oliver Schwarz from Warburg Research. The debt reduction, which will be achieved through revenues, gives the company strategic leeway and also reduces financing costs.

With price targets of EUR 74 and EUR 72 respectively, both analysts still see plenty of upside potential for KWS Saat shares. They last cost this much in January 2022./ajx/ag/mis