OREANDA-NEWS. First-quarter earnings of USD 0.63 per share1; gross margin of USD 0.9 billion second-highest for first quarter
Potash sales volumes increased 78 percent from first-quarter 2012 levels
Record first-quarter nitrogen gross margin of USD 271 million
Second-quarter earnings guidance estimated at USD 0.70-USD 0.85 per share
Full-year earnings guidance for 2013 maintained at USD 2.75-USD 3.25 per share

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) today reported first-quarter earnings of USD 0.63 per share (USD 556 million), surpassing the USD 0.56 per share (USD 491 million) earned in the same period of 2012.

Fueled by improved global potash demand and record first-quarter nitrogen contributions, gross margin for the quarter totaled USD 0.9 billion, a 24 percent improvement over the USD 0.7 billion generated in the first three months last year. Earnings before finance costs, income taxes and depreciation and amortization2 (EBITDA) reached USD 1.0 billion and cash flow prior to working capital changes2 totaled USD 0.7 billion, with both amounts exceeding those in the comparable period of 2012.

Our offshore investments in Arab Potash Company (APC) in Jordan and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) in Chile contributed USD 77 million to earnings in the first quarter of 2013. The market value of our investments in these publicly traded companies, along with our positions in Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) in Israel and Sinofert Holdings Limited (Sinofert) in China, equated to approximately USD 8.5 billion, or USD 10 per PotashCorp share at market close on April 24, 2013.

“With farmers around the world motivated to capitalize on the link between fertility and profitability, the first quarter gave us an opportunity to demonstrate our ability to deliver,” said PotashCorp President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Doyle. “We had significant growth in our potash performance as global buyers returned to the market in earnest after taking a brief pause late in 2012. This environment enabled us to deliver earnings near the top end of our guidance and laid the foundation for what we believe will be a successful year.”