Greeley, Colo.-UAP Holding Corp. reported that fourth-quarter fertilizer sales were up 17.2 percent for the fourth quarter ending Feb. 25, 2007, to $100.8 million from the year-ago $86.0 million. Fert sales were up 3.8 percent for the year, at $707.8 million from the prior year’s $682.1 million. UAP said the increase was due to higher fertilizer prices and slightly higher sales volumes. UAP also saw a large increase in seed sales for the quarter and year, 36.2 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively. Chemical sales saw a modest increase for the year at 1.1 percent, with sales off 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter. UAP still noted that it was a challenging year. Vendor rebate timing took some $20.2 million away from fourth-quarter results. UAP had a fourth-quarter loss of $7.4 million ($.15 per diluted share) on sales of $312.6 million, compared to a year-ago net income of $3.0 million ($.06 per share) on sales of $290.3 million. For the year, UAP reported net income of $33.4 million ($.64 per share) on sales of $2.85 billion, versus the prior year’s $66.4 million ($1.27 per share) and $2.73 billion, respectively. UAP said 2007 set the foundation for a great year in 2008. It expects some 11 recent acquisitions will add $300 million in annual sales, and projects fiscal 2008 EPS of $1.50-$1.75.
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