Agrium Inc. has announced first-quarter earnings results, with net earnings attributable to equity holders of Agrium of $2 million ($0.02 diluted earnings per share) compared to $12 million ($0.08 per share) in the first quarter of 2015. The reduction in net earnings was driven by weaker selling prices across all nutrients.
Agrium said this was largely offset by excellent results achieved from the Retail operations where gross profit was up at $402 million from the year-ago $371 million, as well as strong Wholesale operational performance though gross profits were off at $153 million from $234 million.
Company-wide revenues were $2.72 billion, down from $2.87 billion. Retail was up at $2.29 billion from $2.26 billion, while Wholesale was off at $649 million from $867 million.
“Agrium’s first quarter results once again highlight the resilience of our business model,” said Chuck Magro, Agrium’s president and CEO. “Our Retail business achieved impressive first quarter EBITDA, with strong margins across all major product lines. Our Wholesale business unit continued to demonstrate excellent operating performance and capitalized on our extensive competitive advantages.
Agrium expects to achieve annual diluted earnings per share of $5.25 to $6.25 in 2016 compared to previous estimate of $5.50 to $7.00. It has lowered the guidance range due to a challenging pricing environment for all nutrients and expectations for a stronger Canadian dollar, partially offset by lower natural gas costs and continued strong performance by the Retail business. It is issuing earnings guidance of $4.00 to $4.30 diluted earnings per share for the first half of 2016.
It has reduced its estimate of annual potash production to 2.3 to 2.4 million mt.
Retail crop nutrient sales mt for 2016 are now expected to be from 9.8 million to 10.3 million mt. The slight widening of the range from the previous estimate is due to a forecasted increase in U.S. planted corn acres.