Agrium Inc. reported a 10 percent uptick in second quarter net income to $675 million ($4.71 per diluted share) on sales of $7 billion, up from the year-ago $616 million ($4.28 per share) and $7.3 billion, respectively.
"Agrium’s solid second quarter earnings were supported by the strong competitive advantages across our product portfolio, the diversity of our product and geographic mix and our continued focus on operational excellence,” said Chuck Magro, Agrium president and CEO. “Wholesale delivered impressive results across all products, supported by lower costs and higher volumes. Retail earnings held up well despite approximately a 5 percent decline in crop input expenditures across the North America market and the impact of the severe weather conditions across this region. We believe we outperformed against our U.S. retail peers achieving an increase in U.S. normalized comparable store sales in a down market, a demonstration of the strength of our business model and market position."
Six-month net earnings were up 11 percent to $689 million ($4.78 per share) on sales of $9.9 billion compared to the year-ago $619 million ($4.29 per share) and $10.4 billion.