FMC - FMC Corporation (FMC) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

2024-05-07 13:23:08 ET

FMC Corporation (FMC)

Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call

May 7, 2024 09:00 ET

Company Participants

Curt Brooks - Director, Investor Relations

Mark Douglas - President and Chief Executive Officer

Andrew Sandifer - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley

Josh Spector - UBS

Adam Samuelson - Goldman Sachs

Kevin McCarthy - Vertical Research Partners

Joel Jackson - BMO Capital Markets

Steve Byrne - Bank of America

Andrew Keches - Barclays

Edlain Rodriguez - Mizuho

Mike Harrison - Seaport Research Partners

Arun Viswanathan - RBC Capital

Presentation

Operator

Good morning and welcome to the First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call for FMC Corporation. This event is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Curt Brooks, Director of Investor Relations for FMC Corporation. Please go ahead.

Curt Brooks

Thanks. Good morning, everyone and welcome to FMC Corporation’s first quarter earnings call. Joining me today are Mark Douglas, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Andrew Sandifer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mark will review our first quarter performance as well as provide an outlook for the second quarter and implied first half expectations. He will also provide an update to our full year outlook and implied second half expectations. Andrew will provide an overview of select financial results. Following the prepared remarks, we will take questions. Our earnings release and today’s slide presentation are available on our website and the prepared remarks from today’s discussion will be made available after the call.

Let me remind you that today’s presentation and discussion will include forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning specific factors, including, but not limited to, those factors identified in our earnings release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Information presented represents our best estimates based on today’s understanding. Actual results may vary based upon these risks and uncertainties. Today’s discussion and the supporting materials will include references to adjusted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted cash from operations, free cash flow and organic revenue growth, all of which are non-GAAP financial measures. Please note that as used in today’s discussion, earnings means adjusted earnings and EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. A reconciliation and definition of these terms as well as other non-GAAP financial terms to which we may refer during today’s conference call are provided on our website.

With that, I’ll turn the call over to Mark.

Mark Douglas

Thank you, Curt. Good morning, everyone. Our Q1 results are detailed on Slides 3, 4 and 5. We delivered a solid first quarter with EBITDA at the higher end of our guidance range and excellent improvement in cash generation. First quarter revenue declined 32% versus the prior year period. Volume declined by 27%, in line with the magnitude we’ve observed in the prior 3 quarters. The volume reduction was driven by continued channel destocking and is consistent with the change in grower behavior to delay purchases until closer to the timing of application. Market conditions were largely as we anticipated. And if not for some negotiated returns in Argentina, first quarter sales would have been in the lower end of our guidance range. We delivered EBITDA in the high end of our guidance range and earnings per share above the midpoint of guidance. In addition, we reported a very significant improvement in free cash flow versus the prior year period. Our earnings benefited from restructuring actions, and we still expect to deliver the targeted savings net of inflation of $50 million to $75 million this year....

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