Intrepid Potash Inc., Denver, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.4 million ($0.01 per diluted share) on sales of $33.3 million versus the year-ago loss of $16.6 million ($0.22 per share) and $42.2 million, respectively.
“We continue to execute on our transition and diversification strategies, driving improvements in our year-over-year results,” said Bob Jornayvaz, Intrepid’s executive chairman, president, and CEO. “Potash segment margins benefited from our lower-cost solar-only production profile, and improvements in the domestic Trio® market led to the first announced price increase since early 2015.” He also said International Trio® sales volumes are trending upward and the company’s water and by-product sales were in line with expectations for the quarter.
“Our decision to build potash inventory going into 2018 should allow us to capitalize on the recent price increase,” he added. “Price increases for both potash and Trio® are building on the improved market conditions from the second half of 2017 and we expect these solid fundamentals to carry through the first half of 2018.”
The full-year loss was $22.9 million ($0.20 per share) on sales of $157.6 million down from 2016’s $66.6 million ($0.88 per share) and $210.9 million, respectively.