Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Fertiglobe witnessed an annual plunge in net profit to $188.80 billion during the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, compared to $467.10 million.

The ADX-listed firm posted revenues amounting to $693.70 million as of 31 March 2023, lower than $1.18 billion in the year-ago period.

Basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) shrank to $0.01 during Q1-23 from $0.04 in Q1-22.

The total assets hit $5.66 billion in Q1-23, versus $5.53 billion as of 31 December 2022.

Ahmed El Hoshy, CEO of Fertiglobe, commented: “Natural gas prices declined sharply in Q1-23 due to a mild winter and resulted in lower marginal costs in Europe, causing deferred buying in several key regions.”

“This, combined with relatively muted industrial demand, led to selling prices well below their levels in the same period last year, impacting our earnings growth in Q1-23 on a YoY basis,” El Hoshy added.

He said:  “We are progressing several initiatives to further support free cash generation, including our manufacturing improvement plan announced last year, which is on track to deliver operational and EBITDA efficiencies over the next two-three years.”

The CEO noted: “We expect a positive impact from the recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound on our cost base.”

Dividends

El Hoshy mentioned: “In line with our continued commitment to creating and returning shareholder value, we are pleased to announce our guidance for H1-23 dividends at a minimum of $250 million or the equivalent of at least AED 11 fils per share, payable in October 2023, with the exact amount to be disclosed with Q2-23 results in August 2023.”

In the 12-month period that ended on 31 December 2022, the UAE group achieved net profits valued at $1.82 billion, higher by 87% than $975.90 million in 2021.