Syngenta’s 5% Sales Decline: Use the Restated 2025 Base

Syngenta Group’s October 30, 2026 results put first-nine-month sales at $17.3 billion, down 5% against a restated $18.2 billion for 2025. If you retrieve last year’s release instead, you will find $20.9 billion. Those two historical figures describe different group boundaries.

Primary source: Syngenta Group’s October 30, 2026 results and comparison-basis footnote

Read the perimeter footnote before calculating

The 2026 release says Syngenta transferred its entire 52.65% interest in Sinofert to Sinochem Hong Kong on December 23, 2025. Sinofert is no longer consolidated from January 2026, and prior-year sales, EBITDA and margin comparatives have been restated on a like-for-like basis. These results are unaudited.

Think of the reporting perimeter as the set of businesses inside each column. To study a change across that set, first check that both columns include the same businesses. A historical value can remain correct for its original scope while being unsuitable for a later comparison.

Keep both versions of the historical figure

The original October 30, 2025 release reported nine-month group sales of $20.9 billion. Preserve that number with its original date and scope; label the $18.2 billion in the new release as the restated comparative. Do not overwrite the older observation without keeping that distinction.

Primary source: the original 2025 release, including its $20.9 billion sales figure

Using the rounded amounts in the latest release gives 17.3 ÷ 18.2 − 1, approximately −4.9%, consistent with its rounded 5% decline. Pairing 17.3 with the original 20.9 gives approximately −17.2%. That second calculation mixes reporting perimeters and does not reproduce the current like-for-like comparison.

Separate scope from other adjustments

The release separately reports an 8% sales decline at constant exchange rates and 1% underlying sales growth excluding planned reductions in grain trading and certain other low-margin businesses. Those labels answer additional questions; neither is interchangeable with the perimeter adjustment.

For a different consolidation adjustment, see how Intel removes internal business-unit sales from company revenue.

When building a spreadsheet, give each observation fields for company, measure, period, currency, scope, adjustment basis and source date. Put the release link beside it. A formula should draw from rows with matching labels before you interpret its result.

Try a fictional business-boundary example

Imagine a company whose shops sold 120 units last year: 90 from a retained division and 30 from a division later sold. This year the retained division sells 99. These are invented teaching numbers, not Syngenta figures.

The retained-business comparison is 99 ÷ 90 − 1 = 10% growth. Dividing 99 by the former whole-company total of 120 instead gives a 17.5% decline. The arithmetic works in both cases, but only the first measures growth across the retained division. Record the question alongside the formula.

Use the comparison for a bounded question

A matching perimeter helps isolate the sales movement you are trying to examine. It does not by itself measure customer demand, volume, cash generation or the value of the transfer. Leave those as separate questions requiring their own evidence. For the next release, check whether the historical columns have been restated again before extending your series.