VINACHEM

Fertilizer producer Mosaic missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by production snags, and said its chief financial officer Clint Freeland would retire.

Mosaic had cut its third-quarter production forecast in September following equipment failures in Canada and hurricanes at the US Gulf Coast.

Shares of the company fell 1.7% premarket.

The company also appointed Luciano Siani Pires as its new chief financial officer, who will start from Jan. 1. Pires succeeds Freeland who is retiring from his role as executive vice president and CFO, but will continue as a senior advisor until July 1.

Siani Pires was the group finance chief of Brazilian miner Vale for nearly a decade and also served on Mosaic’s board for more than four years until August 2022, according to his profile at the professional networking platform LinkedIn.

His appointment follows the tenth successive quarter where the Tampa, Florida-based company failed to beat market estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Mosaic said its third-quarter net sales declined 21% compared with a year earlier to $2.81 billion, weighed down by lower potash prices. Analysts expected net sales of $3.16 billion.

Global potash prices have been pressured as supplies are back up to the levels seen before the invasion of Ukraine, as top producers Russia and Belarus sidestep Western sanctions by increasing shipments to Asia and South America.

Mosaic said potash and phosphate producing operations have returned to normal following the disruptions in the previous quarter and it expected an uptick in sales for both in the fourth quarter.

The company reported adjusted earnings of 34 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 54 cents per share.

Mosaic said its Carlsbad potash operation in New Mexico is under strategic review.