Strong pre-season demand more than offset mild weather impact
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2015--
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) reports that robust pre-season demand for
deicing products more than offset lower in-season demand resulting from
below average snow activity in the company’s core service areas.
“Fourth quarter salt sales began at a record-setting pace as our deicing
customers in North America restocked inventories after the extremely
severe 2013-2014 winter,” said Fran Malecha, Compass Minerals’ president
and chief executive officer. “Thus while winter weather has been mild to
date, these results exceeded our prior guidance for salt sales volumes.”
The company sold approximately 4.3 million tons of salt products in the
2014 period compared to previous guidance of 4 million tons. This
compares to 4.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 when snow events
were significantly above the 10-year average. Highway deicing sales
volumes alone totaled 3.5 million tons in the 2014 fourth quarter. This
result includes all highway maintenance products sold in the U.S.,
Canada and the U.K., as well as rock salt sold to the chemical industry.
Eleven representative cities in the company’s primary North American
highway deicing service area reported a total of 35 snow events during
the period compared with a 10-year average of 47.5 events. The same
cities posted 69 events in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The company has published its fourth-quarter 2014 highway deicing sales
volume and regional weather data on its website at www.compassminerals.com/marketdata.
The number of snow events reported may not directly correlate to Compass
Minerals’ deicing results due to a variety of factors, including the
relative significance to the company of the cities represented and
differences in the amount of salt purchased by customers to establish
their pre-season stockpiles. The weather data should be used only as an
indicator of the year-to-year variations in winter weather conditions in
these cities. Compass Minerals draws its weather data from the U.S.
National Weather Service and National Climatic Data Center, and
Environment Canada without weighting or other adjustments.
About Compass Minerals
Compass
Minerals is a leading provider of essential minerals that address
nature’s challenges, including salt for winter roadway safety and other
consumer, industrial and agricultural uses, and specialty plant
nutrition minerals that improve the quality and yield of crops. The
company produces its minerals at locations throughout the U.S. and
Canada and in the U.K. For more information about Compass Minerals and
its products, please visit www.compassminerals.com.
Source: Compass Minerals
Compass Minerals
Investor Contact
Theresa L.
Womble, +1-913-344-9362
Director of Investor Relations
womblet@compassminerals.com
or
Media
Contact
Tara Hart, +1-913-344-9319
External Communications
Manager
PressRelations@compassminerals.com