Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM) reported Q1 EPS of $0.27, $0.04 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.31. Revenue for the quarter came in at $387.5 million versus the consensus estimate of $532.5 million.

SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Patricio de Solminihac, stated, "The first quarter was met with challenges on many levels. As you know, the Company has been responding to a number of inquiries from Chilean authorities including the Public Prosecutor and the Chilean Internal Revenue Service. We are taking all of these issues seriously, and will continue to work diligently with our tax and legal advisors to collaborate with the competent authorities."

"There have been opportunities during the first part of the year as well. On April 24, our shareholders elected a new Board of Directors, whom have been working diligently over the past month to understand the challenges and opportunities that the company faces. I am confident that their expertise in various fields, including corporate governance, will be invaluable in supporting and guiding SQM in the future."

"Even though revenues were lower than expected, margins were very high. Lower revenues were impacted by weaker volumes in potassium chloride resulting from delays. Sales volumes will be significantly higher in subsequent quarters, but despite this, we expect our total sales volumes for 2015 will be lower than sales volumes seen in 2014."

"The Specialty Plant Nutrition business line also saw lower sales volumes during the first quarter of 2015 when compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. However, the market is seeing strong growth, and in line with our expectations, we expect to see growth of over 5% in the sales volumes of this business line during 2015 when compared to 2014."

"As anticipated, prices in the iodine market fell during the first quarter of 2015, just over 15% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, and average prices today are hovering around US$30. Our sales volumes were strong during the first quarter, and we expect to finish the year with volumes slightly higher than volumes seen in 2014. The lithium business continues to see strong market growth, and average prices during the first quarter were close to 10% higher than prices seen during the fourth quarter of 2014."

"In the industrial chemical business line, we see very positive signs in the solar salt(4) business, and expect to move forward some sales anticipated for 2016 to 2015. This shift should bring sales volume expectations for 2015 to over 75,000 metric tons, an increase of over 50,000 metric tons when compared to last year. We have closed contracts for projects in Chile and South Africa, and continue to work to close more."

"Despite the challenges described in each of our business lines, we were able to increase our margins during the first quarter of 2015 reaching an EBITDA margin of 45.7%, which is significantly higher than EBITDA margins seen during the past nine quarters. We attribute these higher margins to our cost saving initiatives, and to the product mix seen in 2015, when higher percentages of our revenues came from higher margin products, such as iodine and lithium. As sales volumes of potassium and nitrates should partially recover during the next quarters, these margins could decrease; however, we expect that even considering the lower iodine prices, EBITDA margins will be higher in 2015 than in 2014, mainly due to our cost saving initiatives that started in 2013."

Mr. de Solminihac closed by saying, "We remain focused on our core businesses, and as I have said in the past, we have great assets and a proven track record of growth. Together with the new Board, we will work to execute successful operating and growth strategies focused on maximizing value."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) click here.