FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX Broker) - Positively received business figures and an encouraging corporate outlook drove up the shares of KWS Saat in pre-market trading on Wednesday. The seed producer's securities were quoted on the Tradegate trading platform 3.6 percent above the Xetra close on Tuesday.

At KWS, business was good in all segments. Expert Charlie Bentley from analyst firm Jefferies was correspondingly positive: the seed manufacturer had posted a smaller operating loss than feared in the seasonally less important final quarter of the current fiscal year. In addition, the company's sales growth target for the new fiscal year is above its forecast, which is reassuring in view of increasing concerns about agricultural sales markets.

Just on Tuesday, biofuel producer Verbio had disappointed with its earnings outlook. High energy and raw material costs as well as lower sales prices had weighed heavily on the company in the past fiscal year./la/zb

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