Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-offs declined to 4.12 billion euros ($5.00 billion), it said on Wednesday, well ahead of an analyst consensus of 3.82 billion euros posted on the company's website.

Chief Executive Werner Baumann told investors at the April annual general meeting that prospects for its agriculture business have brightened during the first quarter as demand from farmers improved amid higher produce prices.

($1 = 0.8246 euros)

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)