While Compass Minerals reported a downturn in first-quarter income due to the warm winter and its impact on the company’s Salt segment, Plant Nutrition segments reported improvements. The North America segment posted operating earnings of $7.6 million on sales of $49.2 million, up from the year-ago $5.3 million and $51.1 million, respectively. Sales volumes were up at 79,000 st from the year-ago 75,000 st, though they were on lower prices–$624/st, down from $689/st.
The new Plant Nutrition South America segment reported operating earnings of $1.8 million on sales of $61.3 million.
Company-wide, Compass posted net earnings of $21.5 million ($0.63 per diluted share) on revenues of $387.8 million, down from the year-ago $49.7 million ($1.46 per share) and $345.7 million, respectively.