Syngenta announces actions to accelerate shareholder value creation
Basel, Switzerland, September 3, 2015
Syngenta today announced actions to accelerate shareholder value creation through unlocking the considerable inherent worth in its global seeds portfolio. As stated in the company’s full and half year results, this will be achieved in a number of ways such as driving profitability improvement, strategic partnerships or divestments.
Pursuant to this, the company today announced its intention to divest its global vegetables seeds business. This industry-leading, high margin business has a significant global footprint and a wide array of best-in-class varieties. As such, it is expected to attract significant third-party interest.
The company also announced today its intention to return significant levels of capital to shareholders through a share repurchase program. The initial program of more than $2 billion will commence in the coming weeks. This will be in addition to the progressive dividend policy which the company has followed for several years.
Michel Demaré, Chairman, said: “The Board and management are determined to accelerate shareholder value creation and our actions today underpin our commitment to do so. Our commitment is also shown by the significant capital return program that we announced today.”
Mike Mack, Chief Executive Officer, said: “By demonstrating and unlocking the inherent worth of our leading global seeds portfolio we can create significant additional value. I look forward to updating shareholders in the coming months on progress, including providing further visibility on the underlying profitability of our portfolio of assets.
We continue to make excellent progress with our AOL program which, together with our clear intent to drive margin improvement across the business, underpins our confidence in our 2018 margin target of 24-26%. For 2015 we reiterate the full year guidance that we outlined in July.”
Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 28,000 people in over 90 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter® at www.twitter.com/Syngenta
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. We refer you to Syngenta's publicly available filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks and uncertainties. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. This document does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer, to purchase or subscribe for any ordinary shares in Syngenta AG, or Syngenta ADSs, nor shall it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract there for.
