Compass Minerals reported consolidated revenue of $215 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022, an 8% year-over-year increase, driven by higher Salt segment average price and sales volumes.

Consolidated operating earnings declined $4.4 million to an operating loss of $3.5 million for the fiscal 2022 third quarter, while adjusted EBITDA also declined from $33.3 million to $28.9 million over the same period, primarily driven by higher Salt segment production and distribution costs.

“We achieved third-quarter revenue growth of 8% year over year, enabled by targeted pricing actions across our product portfolio and higher Salt segment sales volumes,” said Kevin S. Crutchfield, president and CEO. “While this represented an improvement in our top-line performance, profitability levels came in significantly below our earnings potential – particularly within our Salt segment – as we continued to be impacted by increased production and distribution unit costs. With the North America highway salt bid season well underway, we have successfully begun the process of restoring the Salt segment’s profitability through a value-based strategy aimed at optimizing geography and mix while passing through substantial inflationary costs incurred year to date. We also continue to advance our strategy to expand our essential minerals portfolio into new and attractive, adjacent markets – namely lithium and next-generation fire retardants.” 

Other third-quarter highlights reported by the company include:

• Increased Plant Nutrition pricing by 36% year over year, and 12% sequentially to $827 per ton, reflecting continued strength in global fertilizer supply-demand conditions
• Reduced Total Case Incident Rate, or TCIR, by over half, to a rate of 0.95 for the nine months ended June 30, 2022, reflecting an approximate 58% improvement year over year and the continuation of an excellent safety performance to date
• Amended credit facility to provide financial flexibility and bridge the timing gap between the fiscal 2022 inflationary dynamic that has led to Salt EBITDA margin compression to date and the anticipated fiscal 2023 post-bidding season Salt EBITDA margin recovery
• Announced the signing of non-binding memorandums of understanding to supply LG Energy Solution and Ford Motor Company with a battery-grade lithium product from the company’s lithium brine development project 
• Paid down debt with the combined net proceeds from the previously announced sale of the company’s South America chemicals business in April 2022 and receipt of the maximum earnout associated with the July 2021 sale of its South America specialty plant nutrition business 
• Bolstered board of directors with the appointment of Richard P. Dealy and Melissa M. Miller, deepening the board’s operational, financial, and human capital management expertise and experience 

View the full release and Fiscal 2022 Third-Quarter Business Update here.