(Reuters) — Agrium Inc. reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter profit, helped by higher prices for most grains and oilseeds.
The Canadian fertilizer and farm retail dealer also forecast 2015 profit to be $7 to $8.50 per share.
Prices of corn, wheat and soybean rose in the fourth quarter, despite forecasts for lower commodity prices, the company said.
Agrium is North America’s biggest retail seller of seed, fertilizer and chemicals directly to farmers and is also a producer of nitrogen, potash and phosphate fertilizer.
Rival CF Industries Holdings Inc. recently reported lower fourth quarter profit and said costs of its nitrogen capacity expansion had risen by 10 percent.
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Agrium said in November that it would cut 500 jobs and look to sell several non-core businesses as it aimed to find $475 million in savings by 2017.
The fourth-largest global producer of nitrogen sold 879,000 tonnes of wholesale nitrogen products in the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, down three percent from a year ago.
Domestic potash sales volumes fell 94 percent to 19,000 tonnes as the expansion project at its mine near Vanscoy, Sask., limited sales, the company said. Agrium completed the expansion in December and is increasing production.
Net earnings for the fourth quarter fell to $51 million from $99 million a year ago. Revenue fell 5.6 percent to $2.71 billion.
