Compass Minerals Int'l (CMP) Tops Q1 EPS by 7c, Offers Outlook

Compass Minerals Int'l (NYSE: CMP) reported Q1 EPS of $1.49, $0.07 better than the analyst estimate of $1.42. Revenue for the quarter came in at $422 million versus the consensus estimate of $393.15 million.

OUTLOOK

Compass Minerals expects second-quarter sales volumes for salt products to increase approximately 10 percent from 2013 results, while average selling prices are expected to decline approximately 4 percent year over year, reflecting the final impact of the prior highway deicing bid season’s lower contract pricing.

The company has increased its full-year forecast for specialty fertilizer sales volumes by approximately 20,000 tons to between 370,000 tons to 390,000 tons and expects second-quarter sales volumes to total approximately 90,000 tons. The second-quarter average selling price for sulfate of potash is expected to increase to $635 per ton.

On April 1, the company completed its acquisition of Wolf Trax, Inc., an innovative plant nutrition company with a broad offering of value-added products that expand the crops and regions which Compass Minerals serves.

“This acquisition positions Compass Minerals for additional growth by strengthening our portfolio of premium plant nutrition products and expanding our reach to additional geographies and crops. We should see earnings benefits of this addition to our specialty fertilizer segment in the second half of the year,” said Mr. Malecha. “We also fully expect that the extreme winter weather this year has significantly depleted deicing inventories throughout North America, which should result in a marked increase in requested volumes in the upcoming highway deicing bid season.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Compass Minerals Int'l (CMP) click here.

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