Agrium Now Sees Q4 Earnings At Bottom Of Prior Outlook Range

(RTTNews) - Canadian fertilizer and agricultural products distributor Agrium, Inc. (AGU, AGU.TO) said Monday that it now expects its fourth quarter 2013 earnings from continuing operations to be at the bottom of its prior guidance range of $0.80 to $1.25 per share, mainly due to lower than expected sales prices across all wholesale nutrients in the quarter and lower than expected UAN and domestic potash sales volumes.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to earn $0.99 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company expects its retail operations to achieve record results for the fourth quarter and for the 2013 year. Retail was able to offset industry headwinds of lower nutrient prices and a compressed fall season in the U.S. by achieving higher margins for nutrients, seed and services and other product lines.

Agrium also said it expects to report a number of one-time adjustments in the fourth quarter of 2013 that are excluded from the fourth quarter guidance, including a purchase gain of about $250 million related to the acquisition of the Viterra Agri-business on October 1, 2013.

Pertaining to the AWB Ltd. / Landmark acquisition, the company said it will reflect the receipt of about $70-million for an insurance recovery relating to a long-standing litigation case on soybean shipments and a goodwill impairment of about $220-million in Landmark due to lower than expected business performance and delays in synergy realization.