(Reuters) — Canadian fertilizer maker Agrium Inc., the world’s biggest farm retailer, reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as demand for its products was reduced by severe dry weather in Australia and Canada.
The company cut its full-year forecast for earnings per share from continuing operations to $4.65 to $4.80 from its previous estimate of $4.75 to $5.25 on expectations of dry weather in Australia and parts of Brazil.
Expenses rose 4.5 percent be-cause of maintenance turnarounds at the company’s production facilities and higher natural gas input costs.
The company’s net loss increased to $251 million, or $1.84 cents per share, in the third quarter, from $39 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company lost 23 cents per share, bigger than the loss of five cents per share expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.
Agrium said sales rose 8.7 percent to $2.38 billion.
