Agrium reports third quarter results
November 4, 2009 - ALL AMOUNTS ARE STATED IN U.S.$
CALGARY, Alberta -- Agrium Inc. (TSX and NYSE: AGU) announced today net earnings of
$26-million ($0.16 diluted earnings per share) for the third quarter of 2009, compared with
the net earnings of $367-million in the third quarter of 2008 ($2.31 diluted earnings per
share).
The 2009 third quarter results included gains of $5-million ($0.02 diluted earnings per share)
on derivative financial instruments and a $25-million expense ($0.11 decrease in diluted
earnings per share) in stock-based compensation. It also included an inventory write-down of
$9-million (a $0.04 decrease in diluted earnings per share) primarily associated with our
Wholesale purchase for resale business. Excluding these items, our net earnings would have
been $46-million ($0.29 diluted earnings per share) for the third quarter of 2009.
“The third quarter of 2009 held a number of challenges for the entire agriculture and fertilizer
sector. Corn prices were depressed through much of the summer period, due partly to
excellent growing conditions across North America, which contributed to lower sales and
application of crop protection products at the retail level. Uncertainty over global potash
pricing continued to result in cautious buying patterns from all customers, although our sales
volumes this quarter were more than four times higher than the previous quarter. As of mid-
October, harvest progress for corn and soybean crops was 50 percent behind normal, one of
the slowest harvests on record, which could significantly limit the crop nutrient application
window. Despite these short term challenges, Agrium sees a significant recovery in demand
across virtually all crop inputs starting early 2010, particularly for the retail and potash
businesses.1 Corn prices have recovered from summer lows and are back to well above
historic levels and the growth for food products is set to remain strong. Through all three of
our operational business units – Retail, Wholesale, and Advanced Technologies – Agrium is
well positioned to benefit from a recovery in the agriculture and crop input market,” said
Mike Wilson, Agrium President and CEO.
Agrium is providing guidance for the second half of 2009 of $0.30 to $0.60 diluted earnings
per share or $0.14 to $0.44 diluted earnings per share, excluding estimated hedging gains or
losses and stock-based compensation expense, for the fourth quarter. The guidance is wider
than normal given the latest harvest on record in the U.S. this year and the final result will be
highly dependent on weather. Our guidance incorporates the impact from the late harvest to
date, but any further significant deviation from normal weather patterns could cause our
results to be outside the guidance range.1
1 See disclosure in the section “Outlook, Key Risks and Uncertainties” in our 2009 third quarter MD&A and
additional assumptions in the section “Management’s Discussion and Analysis”.

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