MMTC has awarded just under 600,000 mt from its May 7 urea tender. Traders have until May 12 to respond to the buyer’s bids of $226.81/mt CFR for West Coast deliveries and $231.90/mt CFR for East Coast deliveries.
Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL), Melbourne, Australia, reported a 54 percent increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$64.6 million (approximately $42.2 million at current exchange rates) for the six months ending March 31, 2020 on revenues of A$1.85 billion, up from the year-ago A$41.9 million and A$1.74 billion, respectively. EBIDTA increased 28 percent, to A$337.5 million. Revenues were up 6 percent.
Fertilisers Asia Pacific narrowed its loss position from a year-ago, posting an EBIT loss of A$9.9 million versus the first-half FY2019 loss of A$32.5 million. Weak fertilizer volumes in the first four months of the fiscal year due to drought conditions, as well as historic low commodity prices weighed on the division’s performance. However, the company highlighted very strong demand in February through April on improved weather conditions.
IPL also has announced a capital raising of A$600 million via an institutional placement at A$2 per share, and up to A$75 million via a non-underwritten share purchase plan. The program will cut the company’s net debt to A$1.276 billion, and is aimed at making the business more resilient in the current uncertain environment, it said. IPL has also opted not to pay an interim dividend for the fiscal half year.
OCI NV, Amsterdam, has posted a first-quarter net loss of $81.4 million attributable to shareholders on revenues of $811.1 million, compared to the year-ago $81.2 million net loss and revenues of $596.5 million. The adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders came in at $82.0 million for the current reporting period versus the year-ago $82.2 million.
EBITDA was up 44 percent to $176.1 million, compared with $122.2 million in first-quarter 2019, while adjusted EBITDA increased 49 percent to $193.0 million. Revenues were up 36 percent.
OCI-produced volumes sold rose 62 percent to 2.74 million mt, up from the 1.69 million mt, while total sales volumes (including third party products) were up 52 percent to 3.29 million mt. The nitrogen business was cited as the main driver for sales volumes growth. The company said COVID-19 has not caused disruption to its production and distribution to date. But it said it has decided to postpone the methanol divestment process to first-half 2021 in the light of the pandemic and in order to maximise value for shareholders.
K+S Group, Kassel, has reported a 26 percent drop in first-quarter EBITDA to €201 million (approximately $217.7 million at current exchange rates) on revenues of €1.1 billion, down from the year-ago €270 million and €1.3 billion, respectively.
Revenues fell 15 percent. The company cited weaker de-icing salt business in Europe and North America as a result of mild weather conditions, as well as lower prices for potash fertilizers as driving the decline.
K+S now expects full-year EBITDA to come in at about €520 million, down from the €500 to €620 million guidance given in mid-March, and versus 2019’s €640 million. The company said the earlier guidance assumed an earlier China contract settlement, than the end-April conclusion, and at a higher price level than agreed. It believes the settlement delay will have an impact on the recovery in potash prices this year.
K+S has cut its 2019 dividend to the legal minimum of €0.04 per share from the previous proposed €0.15 to maintain eligibility for KfW support. A sale agreement signing for the Americas operating unit continues to be expected before the end of 2020.
