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Sep 30, 2022
Compass Minerals Q4 2022 Earnings Report
Compass Minerals reported an increase in consolidated revenue driven by strong salt segment sales volumes and favorable plant nutrition average selling price for the fourth quarter.
Key Takeaways
Compass Minerals reported an 18% increase in consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter, driven by increased Salt segment sales volumes and favorable Plant Nutrition average selling price. The company is focused on expanding its essential minerals portfolio into lithium and next-generation fire retardants. North American highway salt bid season has set the stage to improve Salt segment profitability in fiscal 2023.
Consolidated revenue increased 18% year over year, driven by increased Salt segment sales volumes and favorable Plant Nutrition average selling price.
Average pricing for North America 2022-2023 highway deicing contracts expected to rise 15% and total committed bid volumes expected to decline by approximately 9%, compared to the prior year's bid season.
Exceptional safety performance with Total Case Incident Rate of 1.27 for fiscal 2022, an approximately 56% improvement from the comparable year-over-year period.
Strategic milestones achieved during fiscal 2022 and early fiscal 2023, including advancing phase-one development of the company’s North American lithium brine resource.
Compass Minerals
Compass Minerals
Forward Guidance
For fiscal 2023, the company has modified its approach to providing annual earnings guidance. The company provides a range of estimated potential earnings outcomes that consider various winter weather scenarios. Focus for the Salt segment in 2023 is on improving profitability to historical levels by adjusting its pricing strategy and recalibrating its sales mix to areas where it has natural competitive advantages that result in higher profit margins.
Positive Outlook
- Average contract price for the upcoming winter season to be approximately 15% above the prior year's bid season results.
- Prioritizing value over volume.
Challenges Ahead
- Total committed bid volumes will decrease by approximately 9% compared to prior-year bid season results.
- Higher production costs due to adverse weather conditions during the most recent evaporation season, resulting in higher per-unit processing costs at its Ogden, Utah facility.
- Incremental costs related to operational strategies to mitigate the effects of ongoing drought conditions in Utah.