Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL) reported a net income after tax (NPAT) for the full year ended Sept. 30, 2022, of A$1.01 billion (approximately US$681.9 million at current exchange rates), versus A$149.1 million for the previous year, essentially meeting the average analyst estimate of A1.02 billion (Bloomberg Consensus).
NPAT before individually significant items (IMIs) came in 186% up year-over-year at A$1.03 billion, compared with FY2021’s A$358.6 million.
EBIT excluding IMIs increased 162% to A$1.49 billion, up from A$566.4 million the previous year, beating the average analyst estimate of A$1.47 billion (Bloomberg Consensus).
Full-year revenue grew 45% year-over-year to A$6.32 billion, up from FY2021 A$4.35 billion.
IPL’s Fertilisers Asia Pacific business reported a 129% rise in EBIT to A$613.7 million, up from A$268.4 million the previous year.
The division’s Manufacturing segment more than doubled its earnings during the year, to A$563.1 million from A$208.8 million. This was despite the Phosphate Hill, Queensland, operation undergoing a major planned turnaround that started in early May 2022 and was completed in the second half of the fiscal year. The company noted the turnaround negatively impacted earnings by A$74 million compared with FY2021.
Ammonium phosphate production at Phosphate Hill decreased 23% as a result of the turnaround, as well as due to some critical pieces of equipment operating at below capacity leading into the turnaround. Output fell to 735,900 mt, down from 958,400 mt the previous year.
Total volumes sold from Phosphate Hill declined 21% to 747,000 mt, down from the prior year 949,000 mt.
However, for FY2023, IPL expects Phosphate Hill to increase ammonium phosphate volumes to around 1 million mt.
The Gibson Island plant in Brisbane, Queensland, produced 404,500 mt of urea equivalent product in the year under review, some 19% less than the previous year’s 498,500 mt. IPL cited various minor equipment failures and inefficiencies as mainly causing the reduced production, with the majority of the issues now having been addressed.
Some 336,000 mt of urea product was sold from the plant during the year, versus 364,000 mt in FY2021. IPL confirmed the plant remains on track to close at the end of this calendar year.
The company reported Distribution volumes were lower as a result of lower demand, largely due to higher pricing, wet weather, and global fertilizer supply constraints.
Fertilisers APAC total fertilizer volumes sold fell by 20% year-over-year to 2.576 million mt, down from 3.220 million mt, while domestic Fertilisers APAC volumes sold declined by 16%, to 1.869 million mt from 2.235 million mt.
Dyno Nobel Americas (DNA) saw EBIT jump to US$532.8 million from the previous year’s US$141.2 million. IPL attributed the earnings boost to a continued uptake of premium technology underpinning “excellent” volume growth in Quarrying and Construction, as well as strong second-half fiscal year manufacturing performance capturing favorable commodity markets.
IPL highlighted the recovery in Waggaman, La., earnings in FY2022, with the operation posting an EBIT of US$343.8 million, compared with just US$3.6 million in the previous year.
Waggaman produced 60% more ammonia year-over-year in FY2022, with output reaching 700,600 mt versus 437,200 mt in the previous year. Ammonia volumes sold increased 32% to 745,900 mt, up from 563,500 mt.
The Cheyenne, Wyo., ammonia operation recovered from unplanned outages in FY2021, with ammonia output up 3% year-over-year. IPL reported that the fourth major turnaround at Cheyenne of the ammonia plant will start in the third quarter of FY2023.
At the St Helens, Ore., plant, urea and ammonia production increased 25% and 28%, respectively, year-over-year, with IPL noting plant production was slightly above expectations post turnaround.
IPL said it is also looking at small debottlenecks at both its Cheyenne and Louisiana, Mo., operations. Overall production at the latter operation was up 16% year-over-year in FY2022.
IPL’s Dyno Nobel Asia Pacific (DNAP) division posted a 16% increase in EBIT to A$162.5 million versus the year-ago A$140.2 million, with IPL citing customer growth and solid take-up of Dyno’s premium technology solutions.
IPL’s Board announced a fully franked final dividend of A$0.17 per share. This compares with A$0.083 a share a year ago.
This year’s final dividends brings the total dividend for FY2022 to 27 Australian cents per share. The 27 cents per share total dividend for the year represents a full-year payout ratio of 51% and a total dividend of A$524 million for FY2022.