Reuters — Canadian fertilizer maker Nutrien on Wednesday forecast lower-than-expected 2023 earnings and posted fourth-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates, sending shares down 2.6 per cent in extended trading.
While higher fertilizer prices dented demand in early second-half of last year, a fall in prices later in the year did not boost demand as farmers further awaited pricing trends to stabilize. Nutrien also said there was a “historic decline” in potash shipments in the second half of 2022.
“Growers are hesitant to step into the market with falling fertilizer prices,” Jason Newton, chief economist and head of market research at Nutrien, told Reuters.
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Newton, however, expects the reduced fertilizer prices and strong crop prices to support demand as spring arrives.
The company forecast 2023 adjusted earnings in the range of $8.45 to $10.65 per share, compared with analysts’ estimate of $11.62 per share.
Excluding items, it reported earnings of $2.02 per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.62 per share, according to Refinitiv data.
The company also raised its dividend by 10.4 per cent to 53 cents per share and said its plans to reduce its share-count by five per cent.
Its peer CF Industries also reported lower sales, and said global nitrogen availability loosened in the fourth quarter with weak industrial demand in Europe being one of the reasons.
Yet, higher fertilizer prices helped the company post fourth-quarter net earnings of $860 million or $4.35 per share, compared with $705 million or $3.27 per share, a year ago.
— Reporting for Reuters by Sourasis Bose in Bangalore.
