Viterra reported that fertilizer volumes were up 15 percent during the first quarter ending Jan. 31, 2010, reflecting solid demand in North America in November, when farmers were able to undertake some post-harvest activity. Actual volumes moved were 310,000 mt, up from the year-ago 269,000 mt. The recent figure includes data from Viterra’s newly-acquired Australian assets.
“For our North American operations, our Agri-products business has seen solid demand for fertilizer products and a 12 percent increase in producer pre-payments in the first quarter, a positive signal that spring demand for crop inputs is recovering,” said Mayo Schmidt, Viterra president and CEO. “The North American businesses are operating as expected, and we believe that 2010 will be a year of recovery for the Australian business. Viterra’s focus is on maximizing our integration efforts and solidifying our enhanced position in the international agricultural marketplace.”
Due to lower prices, actual fertilizer sales during the first quarter were down, at C$120.6 million from the year-ago $169.7 million. Overall, sales from Viterra’s Agri-products segment were $215.3 million, up $25.4 million from last year’s $189.9 million. Gross profit from the unit was $32.6 million, up from a year-ago loss of $4.9 million. Gross margins, excluding Viterra’s financial products contribution, were $21.6 million, up from a year-ago loss of $8.6 million. This is the first quarter Viterra financial products were officially included in the Agri-product results. Most of the credit to farmers is for agri-product purchases.
Agri-product EBITDA was a loss of $11.9 million, which was an improvement over the year-ago loss of $41.1 million.
Customers’ retail pre-payments in North America totaled $272 million at the end of January 2010, compared to the year-ago $242 million. Pre-payments were primarily for fertilizer products, while last year’s pre-pay was for a variety of crop input products.
First-quarter crop protection sales were up, at $4.1 million from last year’s $3 million. Seed sales were off, at $578,000 from $1.93 million. According to Viterra, year-ago seed results were higher due to forage seed shortages in the U.S. Equipment and other sales were up, at $16.5 million from $11.5 million. Growers increased their purchases of grain storage bins, whereas last year’s sales were primarily for smooth-walled fertilizer bins.
Company-wide, Viterra reported net earnings of $10.7 million ($.03 per share) on sales of $1.78 billion, compared to a year-ago loss of $33 million ($.14 per share) and $1.38 billion, respectively.