Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), Tel Aviv, today reported a small uptick in third-quarter 2019 net income attributable to shareholders, to $130 million on sales of $1.33 billion, versus the year-ago $129 million and $1.37 billion, respectively. Diluted earnings per share came in flat on a the same prior-year period at $0.10. Adjusted net income was off by 3 percent from a year-ago, at $130 million ($0.10 per diluted share), down from $134 million ($0.10 per diluted share).
However, the adjusted EPS at $0.10 beat the average analyst estimate of $0.09 based on Bloomberg data (range $0.09 to $0.10).
Sales were 3 percent lower on a year-ago, which the company attributed mainly to delays in the signing of the potash supply contracts in China and India, as well as negative foreign currency impacts. Third quarter potash sales volumes (including internal sales) fell 10 percent to 1.08 million mt, down from the year-ago 1.2 million mt.