A Nufarm production grow-out crop of canola at Horsham captured in July this year. Photo: Nufarm

NUFARM will retain ownership of its seed-technologies division, formerly Nuseed, after a strategic review concluded that retaining the platform delivers the best value for shareholders.

This comes as the company posted a statutory loss after tax of $165.3 million for the year to September 30, weighed down by $142.4M in mostly non-cash charges stemming from a review of its seed-technologies arm, and a performance improvement plan.

In May, the ASX-listed company launched a strategic review of its seed-technologies arm, with options on the table including the possible sale of some or all the business platforms.

The seed-technologies business covers Nufarm’s hybrid seed operations, including canola, sorghum and sunflowers, as well as its emerging industries portfolio, which spans bioenergy crops and plant-based omega-3.

Carinata underpins Nufarm’s bioenergy segment and is supplied to BP under an offtake arrangement, with trial hectares slowly building in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Nufarm also operates a crop-protection arm, offering a range of herbicides and insecticides, and a line of biologicals.

Nufarm managing director and chief executive officer Greg Hunt said there was “broad market engagement with multiple parties” regarding the seeds business, but ultimately the company chose not to sell.

“The review considered a thorough assessment of our strategy as well as the potential for a sale and bringing in a capital partner,” Mr Hunt said.

“The board has determined the highest-value outcome for shareholders is expected to be continued ownership under a reprioritised strategy where we are focused on growing our hybrid seeds business, reduction in the cash requirements for omega-3, and expanding our bioenergy business with BP.”

The seed-technologies business recorded underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $14M for FY25, down 78 percent on FY24.

Hybrid seeds contributed $67M to the underlying EBITDA, down 9pc, due to dry weather conditions in parts of southern Australia.

The emerging-crops platform recording underlying EBITDA of negative $53M, also a drop on the negative $11M outcome from FY24.

The company attributed this result to the continued impacts of falling fish oil prices, which offset gains in bioenergy crop hectares.

The restructuring of the seed-technologies business resulted in additional costs for FY25, including $14.35M relating to staff redundancies and other related costs.

The result included $58.67M in write-downs to sunflower and canola intangible assets and plant and equipment, along with a further $45.68M reduction in seed inventory values linked to restructuring.

Nufarm managing director and CEO (right) with his successor from January 2026, Rico Christensen.

Nufarm’s group executive portfolio solutions Rico Christensen, who will take over as CEO from January 2026, said the business will focus on expanding its hybrid seeds operations in the coming financial year.

“The seed review has provided us with valuable learnings,” Mr Christensen said.

“We are repositioning our strategy and capital allocation to deliver improved performance and returns over time.

“Our hybrid seeds is a high-quality cash-generative business, with unique and valuable IP that we are looking to scale in the Southern Hemisphere markets.

“With the appropriate focus and attention, we see a clear runway to future growth and that will be a priority in FY26.”

Crop protection earnings up

A staple in the Nufarm operations, the crop-protection platform saw underlying EBITDA growth of 18pc to $370M in FY25.

Restructuring in the crop protection division saw $7.26M spent on redundancies, a $6.12M impairment on the Leshan Nong Fu Trading Co investment, and additional costs tied to the closure of South Korean operations, and rationalisation of the Croplands business footprint.

Mr Hunt said the company was “really pleased” with the overall performance of the crop- protection business during the year.

He said this was driven by “a record performance in Asia and a material turnaround in performance in Europe”.

“Underlying earnings increased 10pc in APAC, a good result considering the impact of dry weather in Australia.

“We delivered record revenue and profitability in Asia and the margin uplift was driven by an improved cost of goods and product mix.

“In North America, we grew underlying earnings by 19pc across the year, with momentum building in the second half.

“It was an excellent result given the team were navigating some dynamic market conditions in relation to tariffs and anti-company duties.

“We also had a very good year in Europe, with EBITDA increasing by 21pc, margins expanded from improved mix, and the benefit improvement performance.”

Mr Christensen said the company will look to build on these “positive signs” in FY26.

“We plan to build in our leading positions across geographies and crops.

“Our pipeline looks healthy in the short, medium and long term, combined with a stronger focus on launch excellence, we expect to the accelerate the impact of the near-term pipeline.”

He pointed to Nufarm’s phenoxy portfolio as a range of products with “growth potential” that could be “unlocked through partnerships and market presence”.

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