SQM Reports Q1 Earnings of $151.8 Million

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE:SQM) announced first quarter earnings of $151.8 million.

As quoted in the press release:

Gross Margin reached US$238.9 million (38.3% of revenues), 1.1% higher than the US$263.3 million (44.6% of revenues) recorded during the first quarter of 2012.  Revenues totaled US$623.4 million for the first quarter, representing an increase of 17.7% over the US$529.6 million reported in the same period of 2012.

SQM’s CEO, Patricio Contesse, said:

Gross profit during the first quarter of 2013 was slightly better than both the first and last quarter of 2012; however, we expect the remainder of 2013 to be lower than the first part of this year. It is anticipated that total market demand for potash will exceed market demand seen in 2012, although we have seen the impact of lower prices in our fertilizers markets. In the chemical markets we are seeing healthy demand growth, where new entrants to the lithium and iodine markets will capture some market share this year. For 2014 we expect markets to continue evolving positively and our sales to evolve accordingly.

To view the whole press release, click here.