The company said this deficit was unlikely"to be mitigated"in the second quarter of the year.
Investors dumped Nufarm shares in response to the news,with the stock down as much as 19.6 per cent in the morning. When the market closed,the stock was down 17.5 per cent at $5.08,making it the worst performer on the S&P/ASX 200 on the day.
"Trading conditions have been difficult for financial year 2019-20 to date and this has resulted in lower earnings in all regions for the first quarter compared to the prior year,"Nufarm told the ASX.
With the update,Nufarm became the latest ASX-listed agribusiness to issue a profit warning,although unlike companies such asBega and Costa Group,Nufarm did not mention the word drought in its trading update.
However,the company did mention a $9 million hit on first-half earnings flowing from"additional sales rebate claims from customers"relating to the already completed 2018-19 financial year.
Nufarm told the market that the additional sales rebates were identified during the reconciliation of accounts with German customers for calendar 2019.
"The company is undertaking an immediate review of internal control processes and procedures and will look to further strengthen these in the light of this matter,"Nufarm said.