Shares in Plant Health Care jumped 9% after the developer of alternative crop treatments unveiled its first half year in profit and plans for a dual listing aimed a luring new investors.

The Pennsylvania-based company said it would add a listing on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange to its existing listing on London's junior Aim market, a no-go area for fund managers limited to investing in shares on primary exchanges.

"The current arrangement prevents many investors from investing in the company, particularly US investors," a company source told Agrimoney.com.

The dual listing will also bring the company under the jurisdiction of the UK Takeover Panel, ensuring that any bidder would have to play by rules drawn to limit the freedom of suitors to play cat and mouse with target companies.

Monsanto deal 

Plant Health Care also revealed that it swung into the black, by $2.6bn, for the first time in the July-to-December half, helped by the "first significant sales" of its Harpin seed treatment to Monsanto.

The agreement with Monsanto was "exceeding all expectations", with the protein expected to be used on sufficient soybean seed to cover 8m-10m acres, rather than the 4m-5m acres originally forecast.

The treatment, designed to stimulate plant's immune defence systems, is being applied to Monsanto's genetically modified Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans for planting this spring in the US.

The company had received an order from an unnamed regional soybean seed group for its other major product, the Myconate root stimulant, a deal which was an "encouraging development", if unlikely to have a large impact on earnings.

Shares soar

For 2009 as a whole, the company lost $1.25m compared with $4.94m the year before, on revenues up 16.9% at $23.2m.

The year had seen Plant Health Care make "significant strategic and financial progress", outgoing chairman Albert Fischer said.

Evolution analyst Philip Sparks said that the data contained "no surprises", while keeping a "buy" rating on the group's shares, with a price target of 300p.

The stock closed 17p higher at 210p on Aim.