Miner K+S quarterly earnings hit by lower potash prices
German potash and salt miner K+S published its third quarter results on Thursday that beat revenue and core profit expectations but were weaker than a year ago following a fall in potash prices.
The company reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €66-million ($70.16-million), exceeding analysts' expectations by 11%, according to a consensus by Vara research.
Potash prices have stabilised, following a period of volatility caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine that shrank the margins of potash miners.
"Fortunately, we have again seen a high demand for speciality fertilisers. Prices were lower overall than in the third quarter of the previous year, but so were costs, so that we were largely able to compensate for this," CEO Burkhard Lohr said in an interview.
K+S further trimmed its outlook for 2024, saying it expected to reach EBITDA of around €540-million, at the lower end of its previously announced €530-million to €620-million range.
It said sales in the agriculture segment would be lower than expected because of production bottlenecks caused by a higher than average sickness rate in Germany.
For the rest of the year, K+S also said there would be no oversupply.
Asked whether the election of Donald Trump to the White House would affect K+S' business in the United States, Lohr said that was unlikely.
Trump has threatened trade tariffs, but Lohr said the lack of domestic potash production and the size of U.S. agriculture meant trade barriers would be illogical.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation