Agrium 2Q income up 20 percent

Agrium Inc. reported a 20 percent increase in net earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, 2012 to $860 million ($5.44 per diluted share) compared to the year-ago $718 million ($4.54 per share). It was a record second quarter for the company, which said all three of its business sectors capitalized on strong fundamentals. Overall, sales were up 10 percent to $6.83 billion from the year-ago $6.2 billion.