Global agri-boom triples Q2 earnings at fertilizer company CF Industries By James P. Miller | Tribune staff reporter 5:06 PM CDT, July 28, 2008
Fertilizer producer CF Industries Holdings Inc. said second-quarter earnings tripled, as the global agricultural boom continued to drive fertilizer prices higher.
The Deerfield company reported after the market's close Monday that net income climbed in the latest quarter to $288.6 million, or $5.02 a diluted share, from $93.6 million, or $1.69 a share, a year earlier.
Sales surged 37 percent, to $1.16 billion from $848.9 million, CF said.
CF is a leading producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers and is a significant player in the phosphorous-fertilizer market. Demand for its product has jumped as farmers increase the corn acreage they plant in response to sharply higher grain prices.
For producers such as CF, the cost of natural gas and other inputs has risen, but the company noted Monday that tight global fertilizer supply has led to "record high prices for all major fertilizer products."
The latest quarter's results were bolstered by a onetime pretax gain of $83.2 million, or 92 cents a share, from the "mark-to-market" accounting treatment CF is obliged to give certain natural-gas derivatives. In the year-earlier quarter, the company recored a pretax loss of $36.3 million, or 41 cents a share, as a result of the same derivatives accounting.
