OREANDA-NEWS. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) today reported fourth-quarter earnings of USD 0.26 per share (USD 230 million), a total which included a USD 60 million charge (approximately USD 0.05 per share) for severance-related costs associated with workforce reductions announced in December. This result was below the USD 0.48 per share (USD 421 million) reported during the same period in 2012. Earnings for the year totaled USD 2.04 per share, compared to USD 2.37 per share in 2012.

Challenging fertilizer market conditions impacted our performance. Gross margins fell as lower prices in all three nutrients more than offset improved costs and higher sales volumes. Total gross margin for both the quarter (USD 460 million) and the year (USD 2.8 billion) fell below 2012 same-period results of USD 586 million and USD 3.4 billion, respectively.

Fourth-quarter earnings before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization2 (EBITDA) of USD 544 million brought our total for the year to USD 3.3 billion. The company generated USD 656 million in cash from operating activities during the fourth quarter, bringing our full-year result to USD 3.2 billion, slightly below the record achieved in 2012.

Earnings from our offshore investments were similarly affected by fertilizer market conditions. For the quarter, contributions from our investments in Arab Potash Company Ltd. (APC) in Jordan, Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) in Israel and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) in Chile added USD 25 million to earnings. Total contributions for the year, including a dividend from Sinofert Holdings Limited (Sinofert) in China, were USD 276 million. Both totals trailed those of the previous year. The market value of our investments in these publicly traded companies was approximately USD 5.2 billion, or USD 6 per share, at market close on January 29, 2014.

"This past quarter was a difficult one," said PotashCorp President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Doyle. "Pricing headwinds – most notably in potash – weighed on our performance, although there were signs as the quarter came to a close that the uncertainty in global markets was beginning to abate. Our focus remained on those things we can influence and we took important steps to enhance our competitive position across all three nutrients and prepare the company to deliver better performance."