Nutrien misses quarterly profit estimates on lower crop nutrient volumes

By Sumit Saha

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Nutrien NTR.TO missed analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as lower sales volumes in its crop nutrients business weighed on the world's top potash producer.

Declining crop prices, weakening demand and heightened geopolitical tensions squeezed profitability across the supply chain as the sector navigated a challenging end to 2025.

The uncertainty weighed on fertilizer purchases and on producers facing tight nitrogen supplies and shifting global trade flows.

Quarterly sales at the crop nutrients business stood at $1.51 billion, compared with $1.53 billion a year earlier.

Sales volumes in the unit dropped over 13% to 2.23 million tonnes.

Crop nutrients sales and margin decreased in the fourth quarter due to lower sales volumes from a weather-shortened fall application window in the U.S. and reduced demand for phosphate, the company said.

Quarterly retail sales fell to $3.14 billion from $3.18 billion.

The Saskatoon, Canada-based firm posted an adjusted profit of 83 cents per share for the three months ended December 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of 95 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

However, potash sales jumped 37% to $736 million, while phosphate sales rose 17% to $483 million.

The company expects potash sales this year to range between 14.1 million and 14.8 million tonnes, while forecasting phosphate sales of 2.4 million to 2.6 million tonnes.

Nutrien's "forward looking outlook was fairly positive", Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said.

"As the company does not guide to fertilizer profits, the market tends to assume the recent quarter is a directional indicator of near-term profits," Goldstein added.

U.S.-listed shares of the company were down 2.6% in extended trade after the earnings miss.

Nutrien reported quarterly sales of $5.34 billion, compared with $5.08 billion a year earlier.

In the third quarter, the company launched a strategic review for its phosphate business as part of efforts to simplify its portfolio and boost free cash flow.