Compass Minerals reported a drop in operating earnings for its Specialty Fertilizer business to $15.4 million on sales of $54 million, down from the year-ago $20.7 million on sales of $58.5 million. Sales volumes dropped to 88,000 st from the year-ago 96,000 st, the prices nudged up — average sales price of $615/st versus the year-ago $613/st. The company attributed the volume drop mainly to sulfate of potash supply constraints.
Company-wide, Compass saw an increase in net income to $46.4 million on sales of $383.7 million, up from the year-ago $39.9 million and $315.3 million, respectively. This was attributed to a rebound in the company’s salt business, which saw a surge in sales due to late winter snows. Year-ago salt sales were weak due to a particularly warm winter.