Agrium Inc. reported a 13 percent in drop in net earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, 2013 to $747 million ($5.02 per diluted share) on sales of $7 billion, down from the year-ago $860 million ($5.44 per share) on sales of $6.77 billion.
While volumes remained strong, lower prices for some products impacted results, particularly urea, phosphates and potash, with other products—ammonia and ammonium sulfate showing higher pricing.
Total Retail crop nutrient volumes were up at 4.1 million mt from the year-ago 3.74 million mt, while Wholesale saw a slight drop to 2.89 million mt from 3 million mt.
Six-month net income was also off 13 percent to $888 million ($5.96 per share) on sales of $10.2 billion down from the year-ago $1 billion ($6.41 per share) on sales of $10.3 billion.