Syngenta says expects currency effects to eat into earnings

Syngenta, the world's largest maker of crop chemicals, said on Wednesday it expected its operating profit to stagnate this year as currency effects eat into earnings.

In 2014, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 1 percent to $2.93 billion. The Swiss company also reported full-year net profit of $1.62 billion, down 2 percent on the year before, a smaller-than-expected decline than had been predicted in a Reuters poll of analysts.

"EBITDA after the impact of currencies will be around the 2014 level," Syngenta Chief Executive Mike Mack said in a statement.