SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Highlights
- SQM reported net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 of US$317.2 million.
- Revenues for first nine months of 2017 were US$1,582.5 million, higher than revenues in the
nine months of 2016.
- EBITDA margin for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 reached 41%, while EBITDA
margins for the third quarter 2017 reached approximately 40%.
- Updated Information: SQM will hold a conference call to
discuss these results on Thursday, November
23 at 10:00am ET (12:00pm Chile
time).
Participant Dial-In (Toll
Free):
1-855-238-1018
Participant International Dial-In:
1-412-542-4107
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM;
Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM) reported today earnings
for the nine months ended September 30,
2017 of US$317.2 million
(US$1.21 per ADR), an increase from
US$197.4 million (US$0.75 per ADR) for the nine months ended
September 30, 2016. Gross
profit reached US$546.4 million
(34.5% of revenues) for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, higher than US$406.2 million (29.3% of revenues) recorded for
the nine months ended September 30,
2016. Revenues totaled US$1,582.5 million for the nine months ended
September 30, 2017, representing an
increase of 14.2% compared to US$1,385.5
million reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2016.
The Company also announced earnings for the third quarter of
2017, reporting net income of US$112.9 million (US$0.43 per ADR) compared to US$55.8 million (US$0.21 per ADR) for the third quarter of 2016.
Gross profit for the third quarter of 2017 reached
US$188.5 million, higher than the
US$145.7 million recorded for the
third quarter of 2016. Revenues totaled US$558.7 million, an increase of approximately
10.8% compared to the third quarter of 2016, when revenues amounted
to US$504.0 million.
SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Patricio
de Solminihac, stated: "The results we published for the
first nine months of 2017 are a result of our strong position in
all of the markets in which we are present. In the specialty plant
nutrient business line strong sales volumes were due to strong
demand growth along with decreased supply from our competition. Our
operations team has been able to increase production in an
efficient way, allowing us to increase our volumes while
maintaining the supply and demand equilibrium in the market. Our
sales volumes increased almost 9% during the first nine months of
this year compared to the same period last year. In the potassium
chloride market, our sales volumes surpassed 1.0 million MT during
the first nine months of the year. Sales volumes for 2017 could
surpass 1.3 million MT, a decrease compared to last year, but
higher than our previous expectations."
"In the lithium market, we continue to see strong demand growth
and we saw prices continue to increase during the third quarter,
surpassing US$13,000/ton, thus
increasing another 8% compared to the second quarter. We believe
this pricing trend should continue for the remainder of this year,
and through the beginning of 2018. We continue to move forward with
our new lithium projects. Our projects in Chile remain on time, and we expect to
complete our lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate expansions by
the middle of 2018. In Argentina,
we are investing in the first stage of the 25,000 MT expected to be
online in 2019, and in Australia
we finalized the documentation required to move forward with the
joint venture with Kidman Resources."
"In the iodine market, we have been working over the past
several years to increase our sales volumes in line with our
corporate strategy and operational plan. Market share has
returned to levels greater than 30%, and we believe sales volumes
will surpass 12,500 MT this year. Given these increase sales
volumes, we are increasing our iodine production capacity to reach
just over 14,000 MT as we want to ensure the supply is available to
meet the demand of the future. With prices slightly higher than
prices seen during the second quarter, we are optimistic about our
future in the iodine market."
About SQM
SQM is an integrated producer and distributor of lithium,
iodine, specialty plant nutrients, 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 business strategy is to be a mining operator that
selectively integrates the production and sales of products to
industries essential for human development, such as food, health
and technology. The strategy is built on the following six
principles:
- strengthen internal processes to ensure access to key resources
required for the sustainability of the business;
- extend lean operations (M1) to the entire organization to
strengthen our cost position, increase quality and ensure
safety;
- invest in the development of a specialty fertilizer market,
including product differentiation, sales channel management and
price optimization;
- recover the iodine market share, seek consolidation and
vertical integration opportunities; invest in the development of
industrial nitrate applications;
- search and invest in lithium and potassium assets outside of
Chile to leverage our operational
capabilities, take advantage of the current lithium market appeal
and ensure access to raw materials for our potassium nitrate
production; and
- seek diversification opportunities in gold, copper and zinc
projects in the region to leverage our mining operating
capabilities and provide business continuity to our exploration
program.
The business strategy´s principles are based on the following
four concepts:
- build an organization with strategic clarity, inspirational
leaders, responsible personnel and strong values;
- develop a strategic planning process that responds to the needs
of our customers and market trends, while ensuring coordination
between all segments of the business, including sales and
operations;
- develop a robust risk control and mitigation process to
actively manage business risk; and
- improve our stakeholder management to establish links with the
community and communicate to Chile
and worldwide our contribution to industries essential for human
development.
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 SQM