Agrium 3Q16 earnings

Agrium reported significant progress towards its Operational Excellence initiatives in the third quarter with Wholesale cash selling and general and administrative costs down 26 percent compared to the same period last year. Retail also achieved further cost reductions (excluding acquisitions in 2016) which increased Retail EBITDA to sales from 8% to 9% and decrease Retail's cash operating coverage ratio by 2% points on a year-to-date basis.

Annual guidance range has been revised to US$4.60 to US$5.00 diluted earnings per share largely due to wet weather across Western Canada and the eastern US.

"Agrium continues to focus on what we can control during these times of market weakness," commented Chuck Magro, Agrium's President and CEO. "I am particularly pleased with the results of our operational excellence initiatives. Our focus on growing our Retail business continues, with 70 locations acquired year-to-date, representing approximately US$500-million of expected incremental annual sales. Looking out for the rest of the year, we expect solid demand for crop nutrients; however, growers have experienced poor fall weather in Canada and pockets of the US which has impacted harvest progress and ammonia applications," added Mr. Magro.

"Our proposed merger with PotashCorp is a transformational opportunity to create a world class integrated global supplier of crop inputs and services. This merger creates benefits and opportunities that neither company could achieve on its own and will unlock significant value for shareholders of both companies. By generating meaningful synergies, and producing significant combined cash flows, the new company will be positioned for further growth, while benefiting customers, suppliers, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders," concluded Mr. Magro.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/materials-handling/03112016/agrium-3q16-earnings/