SANTIAGO, Chile, March 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sociedad
Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock
Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported earnings today for the
twelve months ended December 31,
2016 of US$278.3 million
(US$1.06 per ADR), an increase from
US$213.2 million (US$0.81 per ADR) reported for the twelve months
ended December 31, 2015 (the 2016
results were affected by the write-off related to stopping the
operations of the train, which had a one-time, before-tax effect of
US$32.8 million on net income, while
the 2015 results were impacted by the stopping of the operations at
Pedro de Valdivia, which had a one-time, before-tax impact of
US$57.7 million). Gross
profit(3) reached US$611.0
million (31.5% of revenues) for the twelve months ended
December 31, 2016, higher than
US$542.7 million (31.4% of revenues)
recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015. Revenues totaled
US$1,939.3 million for the twelve
months ended December 31, 2016,
representing an increase of 12.2% compared to US$1,728.3 million reported for the twelve months
ended December 31, 2015.
The Company also announced earnings for the fourth quarter of
2016, reporting net income of US$80.9
million (US$0.31 per ADR)
compared to US$44.6 million
(US$0.17 per ADR) for the fourth
quarter of 2015. Gross profit for the fourth quarter 2016
reached US$204.8 million; higher than
the US$118.0 million recorded for the
fourth quarter 2015. Revenues for the fourth quarter 2016
totaled US$553.8 million, an increase
of approximately 34.6% compared to the fourth quarter 2015, when
revenues amounted to US$411.3
million.
We entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice and
the Securities and Exchange Commission, both of the United States of America pursuant to the
terms disclosed by the Company on January
13, 2017. These agreements had a one-time impact on the
fourth quarter 2016 results of US$30.5
million.
SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Patricio
de Solminihac, stated, "We ended 2016 with a very strong
fourth quarter; our EBITDA reached US$238.9
million, and contributed to the EBITDA of US$761.0 million that we reported for the year.
Higher lithium sales volumes and higher lithium average prices were
the main contributors to these strong fourth quarter results,
higher sales volumes related to potassium chloride, iodine and
solar salts(4) also played an important role."
"Lithium sales volumes almost reached 50,000 MT for the year,
and average prices during the fourth quarter surpassed prices seen
in earlier quarters during 2016. Sales volumes seen during the
fourth quarter exceeded 14,000 MT, a record for us. We remain
uncertain about future lithium prices, as new supply and timing of
new projects will be an important factor during 2017. It is
anticipated that new supply could enter the market during the
second half of 2017. We believe lithium demand could grow over 10%
per year in the near term."
He continued by saying, "As we look to take advantage of the
strong lithium market, we will focus our production process on
maximizing lithium yields, trying to reach similar sales volumes in
2017 as seen in 2016. This in turn could lead to a decrease in
potassium chloride production in 2017, and potassium chloride sales
volumes, that were up over 24% in 2016 compared to 2015, could
decrease in the future. We believe in recent months, potassium
chloride prices have reached a bottom, and in some cases, we have
seen slight price recovery. However, we still believe that average
prices in 2017 will be lower than average prices seen during 2016.
In the SPN business line, prices decreased during 2016, and could
decrease further in coming quarters."
He closed by saying, "Our sales volumes of iodine and
derivatives grew over 13% when compared to the fourth quarter last
year, reporting the strongest quarterly sales volumes seen in
recent years, and the strongest annual sales volumes seen since
2012. Prices continued to decline as anticipated, but we regained
market share in line with our objective, closing the year with a
market share of approximately 29%. We expect sales volumes in 2017
to be slightly higher than sales volumes seen during 2016. We have
seen prices stabilizing in recent months, however, we still expect
average prices during 2017 to be lower than average prices reported
during 2016."
For the complete version of this press release, please visit our
IR Web site:
http://ir.sqm.com/English/investor-relation/default.aspx
About SQM
SQM is an integrated producer and distributor of specialty plant
nutrients, iodine, lithium, potassium-related fertilizers and
industrial chemicals. Its products are based on the
development of high quality natural resources that allow the
Company to be a leader in costs, supported by a specialized
international network with sales in over 110 countries. SQM's
development strategy aims to maintain and strengthen the Company's
position in each of its businesses.
The leadership strategy is based on the Company's competitive
advantages and on the sustainable growth of the different markets
in which it participates. SQM's main competitive advantages in its
different businesses include:
- Low production costs based on vast and high quality natural
resources;
- Know-how and its own technological developments in its various
production processes;
- Logistics infrastructure and high production levels that allow
SQM to have low distribution costs;
- High market share in all its core products;
- International sales network with offices in 20 countries and
sales in over 110 countries;
- Synergies from the production of multiple products that are
obtained from the same two natural resources;
- Continuous new product development according to the specific
needs of its different customers;
- Conservative and solid financial position.
For further information, contact:
Gerardo Illanes 56-2-24252022 /
gerardo.illanes@sqm.com
Kelly O'Brien 56-2-24252074 /
kelly.obrien@sqm.com
Irina Axenova 56-2-24252280 /
irina.axenova@sqm.com
For media inquiries, contact:
Carolina García Huidobro / carolina.g.huidobro@sqm.com
Alvaro Cifuentes /
Alvaro.cifuentes@sqm.com
Tamara Rebolledo /
Tamara.rebolledo@sqm.com (Northern Region)
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate,"
"plan," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "should,"
"will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of
forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we
make concerning the Company's business outlook, future economic
performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses, or
other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or
service line growth.
Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor
assurances of future performance. Instead, they are estimates
that reflect the best judgment of SQM management based on currently
available information. Because forward-looking statements
relate to the future, they involve a number of risks, uncertainties
and other factors that are outside of our control and could cause
actual results to differ materially from those stated in such
statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these
forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the
documents filed by SQM with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission, specifically the most recent annual report on
Form 20-F, which identifies important risk factors that could cause
actual results to differ from those contained in the
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are
based on information available to SQM on the date hereof and SQM
assumes no obligation to update such statements, whether as a
result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
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SOURCE Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, S.A.