Syngenta Announces Costcutting

Swiss-based firm Syngenta has announced that it aims be cutting costs by $1bn a year by 2018.  The announcement came after the company say an 11% fall in profits due to higher seed production costs, a write down on seed inventories and lower than expected sales of crop protection products in the last quarter.  Cost-cutting of around $460 million led to net profits of £1.64 billion for 2013. Syngenta maintains the long-term goal of boosting sales to $25 billion by 2020, relying on innovation and a more integrated business that supplies farmers with everything from seeds and pesticides to fertilisers and support services.