MACHINERY giant Agco, the owner of instantly recognisable farm equipment brands such as Massey Ferguson and Fendt has posted a first quarter loss of $A13.4 million, however company officials believe the business is on the right track.
The market agreed – with analysts suggesting the loss, which equates to a loss of 17.3 cents a share, was better than their expectations of a figure around 22.6c/share.
A large proportion of the losses were made up of restructuring costs.
Agco’s shares have risen 11pc in 2017 as investors bet on the worst of the downturn in agricultural machinery being over.
The company was helped by strong growth in sales in South America, one of agriculture’s boom areas.
There were also good results in Germany and the United Kingdom.
As a result, the company has raised its full year earnings profit by 8pc to $3.60 a share.
Agricultural machinery manufacturers have been impacted by low world grain prices over the past two years which has stifled demand for new equipment.