UPDATE 2-Nutrien fourth-quarter profit slumps on lower potash prices
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Feb 21 (Reuters) - Nutrien, the world's biggest fertilizer producer, reported a big drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, hit by lower potash prices.
The company reported net earnings of $176 million, or 35 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $1.12 billion, or $2.15 per share, a year-ago.
Fertilizer companies have grappled with slow demand throughout 2023, as farmers held back on purchases to see if fertilizer prices settle any lower.
Prices had soared in 2022, after sanctions on top exporters Russia and Belarus had tightened supplies of fertilizers.
Potash prices averaged $235 per tonne during the reported quarter, the company said, compared with $526 per tonne a year earlier.
Nutrien, the top U.S. agricultural retailer, also forecast potash sales volume of 13.0 to 13.8 million tonnes assuming demand to grow in offshore markets and a return to more normal Canpotex port operations in 2024.
It also said it sees Nitrogen sales volume of 10.6 to 11.2 million tonnes, assuming higher operating rates at its US and Trinidad plants compared to 2023.
The company had said in November that it expected a Canpotex facility in Portland, Oregon, to be back online by the end of 2023 after suffering an outage.
For the quarter, the company reported an adjusted profit of 37 cents, missing analyst estimates of 65 cents, as per LSEG data.
The company declared a quarterly dividend of 54 cents per share payable, a near 2% increase from its prior dividend declared in November last year.
The company also approved the purchase of up to 5% of Nutrien's issued and outstanding common shares over a 12-month period through a normal course issuer bid. (Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru and Sriparna Roy; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
