Mosaic misses by $0.04, misses on revs
Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.55; revenues fell 27.9% year/year to $1.91 bln vs the $1.96 bln consensus, primarily driven by lower prices and lower North American sales volumes. "Lower potash and phosphate prices, a late North American fall application season and cautious dealer behavior led to this quarter's weaker results," said Jim Prokopanko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mosaic. "We believe the current challenges in the environment in which we operate, for both phosphate and potash, are cyclical in nature and provide Mosaic opportunities to deploy capital, including shareholder distributions. The long-term outlook for Mosaic remains compelling." Q4 outlook: Total sales volumes for the Potash segment are expected to range from 1.5 to 1.9 million tonnes for the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to 1.4 million tonnes last year. Mosaic's average MOP selling price, FOB mine, for the fourth quarter of 2013 is estimated to range from $285 to $310 per tonne. Mosaic's gross margin rate in the segment is expected to be in the mid-20 percent range during the fourth quarter. The Potash segment operating rate is expected to be below 65 percent during the fourth quarter of 2013 with planned Esterhazy maintenance after the completion of a proving run. Total sales volumes for the Phosphates segment are expected to range from 2.5 to 2.9 million tonnes for the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to 2.8 million tonnes last year. Mosaic's average DAP selling price, FOB plant, for the fourth quarter of 2013 is estimated to range from $370 to $400 per tonne. Segment gross margin percentage in the fourth calendar quarter is estimated to be flat with the prior quarter, due primarily to lower selling prices offset by lower raw materials costs. The Company's operating rate at its North American phosphate operations is expected to be approximately 80 percent of operational capacity during fourth quarter of 2013.