Miner K+S quarterly earnings hit by lower potash prices
14/11/2024 06:00
Nov 14 (Reuters) - German potash and salt miner K+S
SDFGn.DE published its third quarter results on Thursday that
beat revenue and core profit expectations but were weaker than a
year ago following a fall in potash prices.
The company reported earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 66 million euros
($70.16 million), exceeding analysts' expectations by 11%,
according to a consensus by Vara research.
Potash prices have stabilised, following a period of
volatility caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine that shrank
the margins of potash miners.
"Fortunately, we have again seen a high demand for
speciality fertilisers. Prices were lower overall than in the
third quarter of the previous year, but so were costs, so that
we were largely able to compensate for this," CEO Burkhard Lohr
said in an interview.
K+S further trimmed its outlook for 2024, saying it expected
to reach EBITDA of around 540 million euros, at the lower end of
its previously announced 530-620 million euros range.
It said sales in the agriculture segment would be lower than
expected because of production bottlenecks caused by a higher
than average sickness rate in Germany.
For the rest of the year, K+S also said there would be no
oversupply.
Asked whether the election of Donald Trump to the White
House would affect K+S' business in the United States, CEO
Burkhard Lohr said that was unlikely.
Trump has threatened trade tariffs, but Lohr said the lack
of domestic potash production and the size of U.S. agriculture
meant trade barriers would be illogical.
"That's the reason why I don't expect any restrictions," he
said.
($1 = 0.9407 euros)
(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, Patricia Weiss in
Frankfurt, editing by Barbara Lewis)
((Tristan.Chabba@thomsonreuters.com;))