Monsanto's quarterly profits more than double

Monsanto Co. said Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings more than doubled on increasingly strong sales of corn seed and herbicide in the United States. But the St. Louis-based company's profit forecast for 2008 appeared to disappoint Wall Street.

Monsanto earned $1.13 billion, or $2.02 per share, in the three months ended Feb. 29, up from $543 million, or 98 cents per share, in the prior year. Its revenue jumped 45 percent to $3.8 billion from $2.6 billion in the prior-year period. Results surpassed the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who predicted earnings of $1.72 per share.

The company forecast 2008 profits of between $3.15 and $3.25 a share on an ongoing basis. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had predicted earnings of $3.20 a share.

Monsanto's shares fell 95 cents, less than a percent, to close at $112 Wednesday.

Research in Motion Ltd. The maker of the BlackBerry said in Toronto Wednesday that the company's fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales more than doubled as it beat expectations and shrugged off concerns that a slowdown in the U.S. economy is hurting business.

For the quarter ended March 1, Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) earned $412.5 million, or 72 cents per share, up from a profit of $187.4 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue more than doubled to $1.88 billion from $930 million.