Q3 2025 Ceres Global Ag Corp Earnings Call

Yahoo

15-05-2025

Tom Coyle; Interim President, CEO, and Board Member; Ceres Global Ag Corp
Blake Amundson; Chief Financial Officer, Vice President; Ceres Global Ag Corp
Operator
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Ceres Global Ag earnings call for the third quarter results for the fiscal year 2025. (Operator Instructions) I would like to remind everyone that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements that reflect current views with respect to future events. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the risks and uncertainties related to these forward-looking statements, please refer to the company's management's discussion and analysis available on SEDAR-plus and the company's website. I now would like to turn the call over to Tom Coyle, Interim President and CEO of Ceres Global Ag. Please go ahead, Mr. Coyle.
Tom Coyle
Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. In the third quarter of fiscal 2025, tariffs became a growing concern throughout the commodity markets and have been our primary focus. The scale and scope of the tariffs have been larger than expected and their on and off nature created uncertainty in the markets. This generated significant volatility and exposure during the third quarter. At the beginning of 2025, we took proactive measures to protect the company from the impact of potential tariffs. Key to this was our cross-border infrastructure. To manage tariffs on Canadian products entering the US, we expedited volumes of grain to our US facilities. Our Canadian facilities are well positioned to serve its international customers and address potential reciprocal tariff issues. We will continue actively managing tariff risks while leveraging our cross-border origination capabilities to deliver value for customers and end users. Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, we achieved solid financial results for both the quarter and year-to-date. Volumes handled were up 24% compared to Q3 of fiscal '24, and year-to-date, our volumes were up 13%. As Blake will detail a bit later, we achieved higher net income compared to Q3 of last year, even with lower commodity prices due to increased efficiency and lower G&A expenses. Looking into the rest of fiscal 2025, our cross-border infrastructure and our joint ventures, which enable our farm direct origination strategy and allow us to deliver unique value to our customers will play a vital role in helping to weather the uncertain market conditions. In our Seed Retail and Processing segment, we continued to generate substantial year-to-date volumes at the Jordan crush plant. With a solid local soybean supply, Jordan was able to service Canadian market needs for express soybean meal and soybean oil. During the third quarter, we increased our focus on local demand for both soybean meal and soybean oil to help reduce tariff exposure on products moved to the US customers. We forecast adequate local soybean supply and ongoing efficiency improvements to operate the plant near capacity through the rest of the fiscal year. In the Supply Chain Services segment, we achieved higher revenue from increased grain storage and elevations. Industrial product volumes, including oriented strand board were modestly lower compared to Q3 '24 and year-to-date and fertilizer volumes seasonally slowed. Propane and butane volumes were lower in Q3 due to ongoing geopolitical and trade disputes. We expect Supply Chain Services volumes to rebound in the fourth quarter to maintain its record pace of revenue and volume for the fiscal year. I will now turn things over to Blake to review our financial results for the quarter. Blake?
Blake Amundson
Thank you, Tom, and good evening, everyone. Before I begin, please note that all dollar amounts expressed in today's call are in US dollars unless otherwise stated. For definitions and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures, including the reference to adjusted EBITDA, working capital and adjusted net income, please refer to Section 8 of this quarter's MD&A. Starting with the financials for the quarter. Revenue rose by 1.3% to $215 million from the same period last year. Gross profit was $6.2 million compared to $7.8 million in Q3 of last year, mainly due to fewer margin opportunities on our core commodities. Income from operations was $2.3 million compared to $2.8 million in Q3 last year. We had net income of $1.6 million or $0.05 per share compared to a net income of $985,000 or $0.03 per share in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income were $4.1 million and $1.6 million compared to $4.1 million and $991,000 in the same period last year. We handled 26.4 million bushels of grain and oilseed during the quarter, an increase of 24.4% from Q3 of last year. Moving on to the financials for the first three quarters of fiscal year '25. Revenue fell 10.3% to $637 million, primarily due to lower prices across our core commodities. Gross profit was $17 million, down from $29.8 million in the first three quarters of 2024. We handled and traded 86.4 million bushels of grain and oilseed in the first three quarters of 2025, up 13% from the same period last year. Income from operations was $4.9 million compared to $15.5 million in the first nine months of 2024. Net income totaled $3 million or $0.10 per share compared to $9.9 million or $0.32 per share in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income were $9.7 million and $3.3 million, respectively, compared to $19.6 million and $10.1 million from the first half of last year. Net trading margin was $21.5 million, down 38.1% from the prior year due to lower trading margins. Supply Chain Services revenue was $5.7 million, up $10.9 million from last year -- or 10.9% from last year, mainly due to higher third-party storage and elevations. Our net Seed and Processing margin was $5.9 million in the first nine months of 2025, down from $6.6 million in the same period last year, primarily due to lower crush and trading margins. General and administrative expenses were $12.2 million, down 14.7% as a result of lower insurance expense and lower incentive accruals in the first three quarters of fiscal year '25. Year-to-date, interest expense was $3.7 million, down from $5.1 million last year. There was an income tax expense of $661,000 compared to an income tax expense of $4.1 million in the same period last year. At the end of the third quarter of 2025, we had $92.8 million of working capital. This concludes my review of our financials. For more information, please refer to our MD&A and financial statements. I'll now turn it back to Tom to provide some comments on our outlook for the quarter ahead. Tom?
Tom Coyle
Thank you, Blake. It goes without saying that tariffs will remain a key concern of the commodity markets for the rest of the year. We will continue to monitor global events to ensure we are positioned to protect our market position and identify new trading opportunities. Trade relations with China will be critical for supply chains in both the US and Canada, requiring diligence to maximize opportunities and manage risk. Fluctuations in the US dollar will also have an impact on trade flows and prices in our core products. We will continue leveraging our ability to originate from Canada and the US, supply our destination customers effectively and navigate tariff challenges. In our fiscal fourth quarter, our grower partners will begin planting for the 2025 crop. Acreage decisions and weather conditions will be critical during this period. The Ceres team will monitor the crop to service our customers and capitalize on market opportunities. Potential market volatility from geopolitical conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war and Middle East tensions will continue to be a concern, and we will proactively adjust our trading strategies to adapt to changing conditions. In volatile markets, Ceres is advantaged in several ways. We have forged strong relationships with the farm gate in both the US and Canada and developed a diverse base of domestic and export customers in our core product lines. We will continue to use our asset base and market knowledge to provide timely information, logistics support and reliable marketing solutions. This includes assisting farm customers in adopting regenerative agriculture practices to supply the growing demand for Millers. We have also established deep connections to our Miller customers by being able to be nimble in meeting their needs from storage to logistics to providing them with grain they require from organic to regenerative specialties on a timely basis. This is supported by an expert team with global trading expertise and a commitment to operational efficiency. Thank you for joining our call today. We look forward to continuing to report on our progress in future quarters. As stated earlier, we will not take live questions today, but answer all messages sent to [e-mail]. Thank you.