Monsanto Co. reported better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter of its fiscal year as sales of genetically modified corn and cotton seeds increased, Bloomberg reported.

The company’s net income grew 15 percent to $1.02 billion, or $1.88 a share, in the three months ended Feb. 28, from $887 million, or $1.60 a share, a year earlier.

The St. Louis-based company’s per-share earnings of $1.87 – excluding discontinued operations – topped the $1.84 average estimate of 18 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

In the past year, corn and cotton prices have doubled, helping to boost demand for Monsanto’s herbicides and herbicide-resistant seeds as more acres were planted.

“Between cotton and corn, that’s 6 million more acres than last year that they have to sell seed into,” said Chris Shaw, a New York-based analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt & Co. “That’s a plus for them, because corn acres are more profitable than soybeans.”

Monsanto’s sales rose 6.1 percent to $4.13 billion and gross profit from the company’s seeds business increase 5.9 percent in the quarter. Profits at the agricultural chemicals unit doubled.