CF reports near six-fold increase in 3Q earnings; forward sales hit 3.5 million tons as of Oct. 25

摘要

CF Industries Holdings Inc. reported a near six-fold increase in earnings, to 86.5 million (1.52 per diluted share) for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2007, versus the year-ago 7.3 million (.13 per share). Sales, driven by higher nitrogen and phosphate prices, were up 46 percent, to 582.9 million from the year-ago 398.6 million. Actual volumes were off slightly. "The sharp improvement in third quarter performance is a clear reflection of the optimism pervading U.S. agricultural markets today," said Stephen Wilson, CF chairman and CEO. "Seasonally slow third quarter demand typically results in price pullbacks during the period. This year, it seems that the prospect of record farm income for 2007 and the optimistic outlook for next year's spring planting, coupled with what appear to be low fertilizer inventories throughout the supply chain, lead many customers to begin locking in their fertilizer needs earlier than in the past. This helped produce continued pricing improvement for almost all our products, not just compared to last year, but also in relation to this year's strong second quarter."