The Mosaic Company Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) today reported a first quarter 2017 net loss of $1 million, compared to net earnings of $257 million in the first quarter of 2016. Earnings per diluted share were $0.00, which included a negative $0.04 impact from notable items. Mosaic’s net sales in the first quarter of 2017 were $1.6 billion, down from $1.7 billion last year, with lower prices more than offsetting higher sales volumes. Operating earnings during the quarter were $30 million, down from $163 million a year ago, driven by lower phosphate and potash prices, partially offset by lower phosphate raw materials costs and effective expense management.
Mosaic Company President and CEO O’Rourke commented:

“Our results do not yet reflect improving potash and phosphate market conditions we anticipate to benefit from for the remainder of the year. This quarter we experienced several operational challenges which are now largely behind us.  Our constructive outlook hasn’t changed and we expect to see stronger earnings in the remainder of 2017.”

Cash flow provided by operating activities in the first quarter of 2017 was $146 million compared to $266 million in the prior year. Capital expenditures totaled $224 million in the quarter. Mosaic’s total cash and cash equivalents were $675 million and long-term debt was $3.8 billion as of March 31, 2017.
Rich Mack, Mosaic’s Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer commented:

“The confluence of the Esterhazy skip failure, an ammonia plant outage, excessive rainfall at Miski Mayo and rail and other logistical issues at Canpotex all occurred during the first quarter and impacted our earnings.  Looking forward, we expect to see higher realized potash and phosphate prices in the second quarter, which should meaningfully improve earnings for Mosaic.”

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