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. Retail and Wholesale achieved the highest EBITDA in history, both for the second quarter and first half. Overall, sales were up 10 percent, to $6.83 billion from the year-ago $6.2 billion.
Second-quarter Wholesale net earnings were $634 million on sales of $1.71 billion, compared to the year-ago $569 million on sales of $1.71 billion. Nitrogen sales were up, at $743 million from $717 million. Sales volumes were off at 1.3 million mt, but prices were up at $573/mt compared to the year-ago 1.43 million mt and $500/mt.
Phosphates were up at $224 million from $206 million. Sales volumes were up at 313,000 mt from 259,000 mt, while prices were down at $713/mt from $795/mt.
Potash sales were off, at $246 million from $259 million. Sales volumes were 512,000 mt, down from 543,000 mt. Prices were up slightly, to $480/mt from $477/mt.
Second-quarter Retail net earnings were $556 million on sales of $5.2 billion, up from $486 million on sales of $4.65 billion. Within this sector, crop nutrient sales moved up to $2.36 billion from $2.11 billion, with crop protection up to $1.73 billion from $1.46 billion and seed at $712 million from $687 million.
Second-quarter Advanced Technology earnings were $14 million on sales of $178 million, up from the year-ago $13 million on sales of $158 million.
Both income and sales were up 14 percent in the first half. Net income was $1 billion ($6.41 per share) on sales of $10.5 billion, compared to the year-ago $889 million ($5.62 per share) on sales of $9.15 billion.
Six-month Retail earnings led the way at $613 million on sales of $7.67 billion, up from $471 million on sales of $6.47 billion. Crop nutrients were up to $3.4 billion from $2.8 billion, crop protection to $2.56 billion from $2.1 billion, and seed to $1.03 billion from $917 million.
Wholesale earnings were $960 million on sales of $2.93 billion, compared to the year-ago $946 million on sales of $2.95 billion. Nitrogen sales were up at $1.13 billion from $1.05 billion. Nitrogen volumes were 2.1 million mt with an average selling price of $536/mt, versus the year-ago 2.18 million mt and $482/mt.
Phosphate sales were $413 million, down from $444 million. Volumes were down slightly, to 556,000 mt from 565,000 mt. Prices were down at $742/mt from $786/mt.
Potash sales were $385 million, down from $454 million. Volumes were 791,000 mt, down from 1.02 million mt. Prices were up at $486/mt from $445/mt.
Advanced Tech earnings were $9 million on sales of $313 million, up from the year-ago $8 million on sales of $239 million.