SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

Form 6-K

 

 

Report of Foreign Issuer

Pursuant to Section 13a-16 or 15d-16 of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of: March, 2015

Commission File Number: 001-14460

 

 

AGRIUM INC.

(Name of registrant)

 

 

13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E.,

Calgary, Alberta,

Canada T2J 7E8

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:

Form 20-F  ¨             Form 40-F   þ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):  ¨

 

 

 


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

AGRIUM INC.
Date: March 5, 2015 By: /S/ GARY J. DANIEL
Name: Gary J. Daniel

Title:   Corporate Secretary &

            Senior Legal Counsel


EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit

  

Description of Exhibit

1    2014 Annual Report to Shareholders


Table of Contents

 

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2014 ANNUAL REPORT


Table of Contents

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DELIVERING ON OUR VISION

  IFC   

2014 – INVESTING FOR FUTURE GROWTH

  1   

AGRIUM’S STRATEGIC FOOTPRINT

  2   

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

  4   

LETTER FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

  7   

KEY PRIORITIES AND RESULTS

  8   

DELIVERING ON OUR COMMITMENT TO EMPLOYEES

  10   

AGRIUM’S FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY

  11   

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

  14   

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND NOTES

  88   

10-YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

  138   

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

  139   

SEGMENTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

  141   

DIRECTORS & OFFICERS

  148   

SHAREHOLDER AND CORPORATE INFORMATION

  149   

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES & FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

 

Certain financial measures in this document, as listed in the table on page 15, are not prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). Our method of calculation may not be directly comparable to that of other companies. Refer to page 76, Additional IFRS and Non-IFRS Financial Measures, for further details, including a reconciliation of such measures to their most directly comparable respective measure calculated in accordance with IFRS.

In addition, certain statements and other information included in this document constitute “forward-looking information”, “forward-looking statements” and/or “financial outlook” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States (“U.S.”) securities legislation (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. Refer to page 85, Key Assumptions and Risks in Respect of Forward-Looking Statements, for further details.

DELIVERING ON OUR VISION

OUR VISION IS TO BE THE WORLD’S LEADING PROVIDER OF AGRICULTURAL INPUTS AND SERVICES.

We do this by leveraging our leading position in the agriculture retail distribution market and through our low-cost nutrient production capability in complementary end-markets.

Together these strengths allow us to deliver what our customers need – when and where they need it. True to our mission of helping to feed a growing world, our products and services are critical to ensuring that farmers can continue to expand global food production in a sustainable manner.

Our strategy to deliver on this vision is straightforward: to continually improve the efficiency across our business, focus on achieving best-in-class operational performance, and grow both organically and through strategic high-return investments. This provides Agrium with the ability to continue to increase our return of capital to shareholders. The success of our Company is built on our outstanding people, and we have a highly engaged workforce. We are executing focused growth plans across our business and these, combined with our Operational Excellence program, will generate significant free cash flow and support higher future total shareholder returns.

 

 

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TOTAL SHAREHOLDER RETURN

 

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In the past four years, Agrium has increased its annual dividend per share from $0.11 to $3.12. We have a strong focus on returning capital to our shareholders, and we demonstrated our commitment to regular and sustainable dividend growth by increasing the payout by 4 percent in 2014 and significantly increasing our target dividend payout ratio.

 

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AGRIUM’S STRATEGIC FOOTPRINT

Agrium’s unique strategic footprint in North America and other global regions delivers distinct competitive advantages and tangible value to shareholders. Our Retail distribution network would be very difficult to replicate and is an important distribution channel for a significant portion of our Wholesale nutrient production.

 

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VALUE DELIVERED BY OUR STRATEGIC FOOTPRINT

 

 

 

 

STABLE EARNINGS AND CASH FLOW BASE

 

Operating across the global agricultural inputs and services value chain provides stability in cash flow and solid support for our dividend and sustaining capital. The counter-cyclical working capital profiles of our businesses further support our access to cash flow throughout the commodity cycle.

 

 

PLANT UTILIZATION AND DISTRIBUTION SYNERGIES

 

Agrium’s “hand in glove” distribution network allows our potash fertilizer production to maintain higher operating rates than our peers, which in turn drives lower operating costs and higher sales volumes into domestic markets with higher margins. At the same time, we are able to keep an additional 15 to 20 percent of our nitrogen production in Western Canada at higher in-market prices versus the northern and western portions of the U.S.

 

 

LEVERAGING OUR SIZE AND SCALE

 

Agrium’s size allows us to drive stronger purchasing agreements than our peers while targeting $125-million of recurring EBITDA improvement by the end of 2017 from our Operational Excellence.

 

 

LOWER COST OF CAPITAL

 

Our diversified earnings base and competitive strengths across the value chain provide additional financial stability favored by debt rating agencies. This results in investment grade credit ratings, which translates into additional debt capacity as well as lower borrowing rates.

 

 

MARKET INTELLIGENCE

 

Our global market intelligence across the value chain ensures timely and efficient purchasing of nutrient products across the organization.

 

 

EXPANSION AND ACQUISITION OPPORTUNITIES

 

Without our unique business positioning, Agrium would not have been able to close certain company-transforming transactions, such as Royster Clark (2005), UAP (2008) and Viterra (2013) at attractive acquisition multiples post-synergies, due to the diverse combination of assets held within these companies.

 

 

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THIS LETTER MARKS THE FIRST YEAR OF MY TENURE AS PRESIDENT & CEO OF AGRIUM. IT WAS A BUSY YEAR AS WE MADE GOOD PROGRESS ON NUMEROUS PROJECTS TO BOTH GROW AND REFOCUS THE COMPANY.

This included not only our Wholesale expansion projects and the highly successful integration of the Viterra Agri-products acquisition, but also the introduction of our Operational Excellence program and continuation of our portfolio review. We also made a number of key management appointments this year. All of these actions are paving the way for a significant expansion of earnings and free cash flow and will play an important role in the long-term success of the Company.

 

 

2014: DELIVERING ON OUR VISION

 

 

In many ways, the focus in 2014 was on preparing the Company for future growth in earnings and returns to shareholders. We invested significant energy and capital into our growth projects this year and took a hard look at what we can do better within our existing businesses. We delivered solid earnings and cash flow this year, raised the dividend once again and announced a higher targeted dividend payout ratio and share repurchase program for 2015. However, the year was not without its challenges. In particular, lower crop prices in the second half of the year created a headwind for the business. Additionally, on-stream times at some of our Wholesale facilities were not where they need to be. As a result, we spent significant resources and endured associated downtime to refresh and expand our nitrogen and potash facilities. This will set us up to achieve higher on-stream time and expand our operating capacity in the future. The downtime temporarily lowered our production capability and increased per-tonne costs, which impacted our earnings this year. Still, our 2014 Adjusted EBITDA was $1.7-billion and cash flow from operations was $1.3-billion, generating net earnings from continuing operations of $798-million.

We made significant progress in the area of Operational Excellence, which strives to ensure we are making the most of our assets and maximizing the value from our investments. We reduced Retail working capital to sales by more than 3 percentage points in 2014, with Retail sales up 9 percent while working capital declined by 4 percent compared to 2013. We also trimmed our workforce by more than 500 full-time employees and lowered overall general and administrative costs. We implemented improvements to our international Retail operations, which helped achieve a 112 percent increase in year-over-year EBITDA1; and we improved the cost structure of our phosphate business, which helped return it to achieving industry-leading margins. We will continue to streamline the Company’s structure, costs and working capital with a target of realizing $125-million of recurring improvement to our EBITDA by the end of 2017 and $350-million in one-time benefits that we expect will come much sooner.

Operational Excellence is a way of framing everything we do at Agrium. One example of this is our approach to environment, health, safety and security (“EHS&S”). I am passionate about safety and we continue to set and strive to exceed these stretch targets for our safety metrics every year. Through the current review process and the ongoing adoption of the Operational Excellence culture at Agrium, our goal is to ensure that every part of our business is operating to its utmost potential and that our portfolio is optimized for maximum operating and capital efficiency.

The portfolio review we initiated in late 2013 was designed to evaluate all parts of the business – an important process that we will continue in 2015. This review resulted in our decisions to dissolve the AAT

 

 

1  2013 international Retail EBITDA adjusted to exclude goodwill impairment of $220-million.

 

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business unit at the end of 2013 and, ultimately, to sell the Turf and Ornamental operations for $94-million in 2014. In early 2015, we also signed agreements to sell assets related to our Purchase for Resale business, generating $50-million in sale proceeds; and we have identified other non-core, working-capital-intensive businesses that we have elected to divest.

We continued our program of focused growth in 2014. We completed the integration of our extremely successful Viterra Agri-products acquisition and had another strong year of accretive smaller tuck-in acquisitions in support of our 2015 Retail financial targets. In Wholesale, we completed the tie-in of our Vanscoy potash mine expansion at the end of 2014 and will focus on ramping up production at the facility in 2015. We were disappointed by the sizeable cost overrun on this major expansion project, due primarily to labor productivity challenges that exist in Western Canada. Also in Wholesale, the expansion of our Borger, Texas, nitrogen facility is on-track to deliver 610,000 tonnes of additional annual urea production capacity by the end of 2015 within budget. Construction resumed on the Egypt nitrogen facility, in which we have an equity position. This will add 340,000 tonnes of nitrogen volume to Agrium’s portfolio when construction is complete in mid-2015. We and our partner in the Profertil nitrogen facility in Argentina are in the final stages of commissioning an energy efficiency debottleneck project that will increase ammonia and urea production with no increase in natural gas consumption. This will provide Agrium with about 70,000 tonnes of additional production and significantly lower per-tonne cost of production. By the time we have completed and ramped up these expansion projects we will have increased our production capacity by more than 20 percent compared to 2014. In our Retail distribution business, we will continue to focus on achieving our financial targets, with much of the growth coming from organic opportunities such as our private label seed and Loveland product categories, as well as from continuing our successful tuck-in acquisition strategy.

While 2014’s focus was on building the foundations for future success, 2015’s focus will be on execution, accountability and delivery of our commitments. When we look at our strategy and the outlook for our products for 2015 and beyond, it is apparent that Agrium will have the capability to generate significant free cash flow well into the future. This will be supported by the

 

 

 

AGRIUM IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING OUR SHAREHOLDERS WITH OUTSTANDING RETURNS. TO THIS END, WE REVISITED OUR CAPITAL ALLOCATION POLICY THIS YEAR AND ELECTED TO INCREASE OUR HURDLE RATE FOR NEW GROWTH PROJECTS, WHILE ALSO INCREASING OUR TARGETED DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATE TO 40 TO 50 PERCENT OF OUR FREE CASH FLOW.”

 

 

completion of our expansion projects and growing Retail earnings, as well as a significant reduction in our expenditure of growth capital. This is where our shareholder-focused capital allocation policy takes the spotlight and presents opportunities for significant capital returns to shareholders. Agrium is committed to providing our shareholders with outstanding returns. To this end, we revisited our capital allocation policy this year and elected to increase our internal hurdle rate for new growth projects, while also increasing our targeted dividend payout ratio to 40 to 50 percent of our free cash flow. A core focus of our strategy is centered on a sustainable, growing dividend, which will increase in line with our increasing free cash flow profile. The 4 percent increase to the dividend we announced in 2014 is a further demonstration of our confidence in our future cash flows and our dedication to shareholder returns. We will also continue to look for high-return growth opportunities and utilize share repurchases as another tool for returning capital to shareholders.

 

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While our business can be subject to short-term market fluctuations, the strength of our competitive position in agricultural retail, nitrogen and potash in particular, and the actions we have taken in 2014, will ensure Agrium can generate significant cash flow under almost any market conditions. Looking ahead to the immediate future, we will complete our portfolio review and divest identified assets, and we will complete our current expansion projects while ensuring that our capital is put to the highest return for our shareholders. The longer-term market fundamentals for our business remain as strong as ever. The global population continues to grow at a rapid pace, and developing countries want to improve their nutritional intake, all on a finite amount of arable land. In this regard, Agrium’s products and services through our Retail and Wholesale business units play a critical role in helping to feed a growing world in a sustainable manner.

 

 

PEOPLE: A KEY TO OUR SUCCESS

 

 

We are proud of what we have accomplished over the past year and are excited about what is ahead. But we know that all of it would be impossible without the creativity, passion and perseverance of our approximately 15,500 employees. These men and women who consistently strive to exceed expectations and deliver great results are the reason for Agrium’s success and the backbone of our outstanding culture. We were recognized once again with a number of accolades related to that culture in 2014. We were named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, one of Alberta’s Top 65 Employers, one of Canada’s Top Diversity Employers, and one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People; we were included in Achievers’ 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Award and we were named Company of the Year by Women in Agribusiness.

I am also pleased with the progress we made in ensuring continuity of key leadership positions in 2014. In the past 12 months, we hired a new Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Michael Webb; our former Chief Financial Officer Stephen Dyer was appointed as the President of our Retail Business Unit; and we welcomed Steve Douglas as our new Chief Financial Officer, and Jody Davids as our Chief Information Officer. With these changes, we are confident that we have a strong management team in place to ensure success in 2015 and beyond.

Agrium provides important, high-quality agricultural inputs and services to our customers, and our top priority is to do this while ensuring the safety of our people and the communities in which we operate. We set objectives related to EHS&S measures, and we are pleased to report that we gained ground in three out of five of these key areas in 2014.

I want to thank our shareholders for their continued support as we deliver on our vision. I also wish to thank the members of our Board of Directors (“the Board”) for the vital role they play in the oversight of our strong financial and operational performance. The Board has contributed greatly to our Company’s success in many areas, and the quality of its governance has continually garnered external recognition. Our success is a direct result of the exemplary guidance and leadership Agrium’s Board provides.

 

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Chuck Magro
President & Chief Executive Officer
February 24, 2015

 

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THE BOARD OVERSAW A NUMBER OF REFINEMENTS TO AGRIUM’S WELL-ARTICULATED AND HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL CORPORATE STRATEGY IN 2014 AND WELCOMED CHUCK MAGRO AS THE NEW CEO EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2014.

We are also very pleased to have appointed Steve Douglas, who has a very strong background in managing financial priorities in large, capital-intensive businesses, to the role of Chief Financial Officer. With the retirement of the former head of our Retail operations, Stephen Dyer was appointed to the position of President, Retail. As well, Michael Webb joined Agrium as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources.

In addition to these management changes, we welcomed Marianne Harris to the Board. Marianne comes to us with exceptional experience from her career in investment banking and financial markets, and she will be a valued resource for guiding our capital allocation decisions in the coming years. We are proud of the 25 percent female representation on our Board, which places us in the top 20 percent of Fortune 500 companies for women on boards. With a very deep and diverse pool of experience and expertise, Agrium’s Board is a source of strength and stability for the Company. I urge you to visit the Governance section of our web site (www.agrium.com), where you can find biographies for each of our directors. Our policies and guidelines are also on the web site, and I encourage you to read those as well.

One of the central tenets of our responsibility is to represent and uphold shareholder interests in all Company decisions. To this end, Russell Horner and I conducted a governance roadshow in early 2014 to engage directly with many of our shareholders and create an opportunity for a direct dialogue about the main issues that concern our shareholders.

A topic highlighted during the roadshow was Agrium’s executive compensation structure, and we appreciated the feedback. We have reviewed and updated our policies in this regard, and have implemented a structure that represents best practices for public companies. We have improved the line of sight between achievement of Key Performance Indicators and the annual incentive payout for our executives. We believe our program will effectively reward high performance and continue to attract and retain exceptional talent, while more closely aligning executives’ interests with those of our shareholders. We encourage you to review this year’s Management Proxy Circular for more details.

As part of the Board’s ongoing focus on shareholder returns, we approved an increased dividend payout in 2014 and a share repurchase program for 2015. Furthermore, we expect to see consistent increases in capital returns over the coming years.

Agrium is at a very exciting point in its history. The Company is on the brink of completing its major identified capital growth projects and continues to grow the Retail business. Looking ahead, we expect to see the full benefits of our strategy and competitive advantages, including the higher Wholesale capacity, lower investment capital expenditure profile and continued growth in Retail earnings. All of these factors bode well for Agrium’s earnings and cash flow, and in combination with our capital allocation policy, will ultimately serve shareholders well.

 

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Victor Zaleschuk
Board Chair
February 24, 2015

 

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SAFETY: Identify and implement areas for continuous improvement in Agrium’s EHS&S performance and governance.

 

LOGO PARTLY ACHIEVED: We continued to build on our record performance in 2013 and a strong improvement trend in EHS&S results. In particular, we surpassed three of our five performance goals with improved performance in Environmental Incidents, Vehicle Accidents and Contractor TRI’s. However, results for Retail employee injuries were higher than our target and compared to last year.

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: Implement enhanced Operational Excellence programs, including: a targeted $15-million improvement in Wholesale net returns in 2014 through the implementation of a Lean Six Sigma efficiency program and the completion of an entity-wide program to optimize shared services. Continue to optimize our Retail business in order to reach our stated target of EBITDA of $1.3-billion and other associated financial metric targets (such as return on capital employed, working capital as a percentage of sales and operating coverage ratio reduction) by the end of 2015.

 

  ACHIEVED: We initiated a broad Operational Excellence review in 2014, identifying specific areas and targets for additional margin improvement, cost reduction, procurement and logistical efficiencies across all aspects of the business as well as further reductions in working capital. As a result, we have targeted at least $125-million in ongoing EBITDA improvements by the end of 2017 and one-time benefits of $350-million relative to 2013 financials. Wholesale easily surpassed their $15-million target for improvement to net returns in 2014 through the continued implementation of the Lean Six Sigma and other Operational Excellence initiatives. Retail continued to demonstrate improvement across all of its key metrics in 2014. As a result of these successes, Agrium has achieved over 50 percent of these targets at the end of 2014.

NITROGEN EXPANSIONS: Progress our nitrogen projects, including our Borger, Texas facility expansion and Profertil nitrogen debottleneck projects. Complete an evaluation of a potential restart of our Kenai, Alaska facility by the end of 2014 and assist MOPCO in the recommencement of the construction project to triple capacity at the Egyptian nitrogen facility.

 

  ACHIEVED: The Borger, Texas nitrogen expansion project progressed within the planned timeframe and budget in 2014, with target completion by the end of 2015. The Profertil nitrogen facility debottleneck project proceeded largely as planned. The project was recently mechanically completed and final commissioning is underway. Additionally, construction successfully recommenced at the two additional MOPCO nitrogen plants in the spring of 2014. The construction of these facilities is expected to be completed by the middle of 2015.

We continued to work with gas exploration firms in the Alaska Cook Inlet in an attempt to secure sufficient, reasonably priced natural gas supplies for a potential restart to our existing Kenai nitrogen facility, whose capacity is approximately one million product tonnes. Preliminary cost estimates for the project have been completed, and the required air permit for a potential restart has been obtained.

 

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POTASH EXPANSION: Bring our potash brownfield expansion at the Vanscoy facility to completion by the end of 2014 and contain capital cost escalation.

 

LOGO PARTLY ACHIEVED: Our potash expansion project was tied-in on schedule, with the facility recommencing production in December 2014 as planned. However, we experienced significant capital cost escalation in 2014 primarily due to low labor productivity, with the project cost coming in approximately 20 percent higher than the $1.9-billion estimate identified in last year’s annual filings.

RETAIL SYNERGIES: Effectively integrate the recently acquired Viterra Agri-products operations in 2014, including laying the foundation for achieving at least $15-million in synergies from this acquisition by the end of 2014. Also demonstrate progress in achieving the remaining portion of the AUD $40-million in synergies for our Landmark Retail operations by the end of 2015.

 

Ÿ ACHIEVED: We demonstrated excellent results in 2014 for both our recent Viterra Agri-products acquisition in Western Canada and our Landmark Retail operations in Australia. The Viterra Agri-product operations were fully integrated into CPS Canada in 2014. Furthermore, Landmark Retail EBITDA1 demonstrated a $38-million year-over-year improvement in 2014. Much of this was due to cost savings and other improvements implemented in 2014, which we expect will be carried forward into 2015.

AAT RESTRUCTURE: Successfully reintroduce AAT’s ESN production into the Wholesale business unit and complete the strategic evaluation of the Turf and Ornamental and Direct Solutions operations by the end of the first half of 2014. Achieve at least $10-million in on-going annual net improvement to earnings from this action.

 

Ÿ ACHIEVED: Agrium’s controlled release ESN nitrogen fertilizer for broad acre crops was successfully reintroduced to Wholesale Agrium in the first half of 2014, resulting in annual ongoing cost savings of over $10-million. Agrium sold the Turf and Ornamental AAT operations to Koch Industries for $94-million in July of 2014. Direct Solutions was largely dissolved with some limited operations consolidated into the Retail business unit.

2015 KEY PRIORITIES

SAFETY: Identify areas and implement initiatives for further continuous improvement in Agrium’s EHS&S performance and governance.

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: Achieve the targeted $350-million one-time savings through working capital reductions and sale proceeds from the portfolio review. Make strong progress toward the targeted recurring EBITDA improvement of $125-million annually from operating cost reductions, procurement and logistics efficiencies, and general and administrative cost reduction by the end of 2017. Complete portfolio review and achieve divestiture of non-core assets.

NITROGEN EXPANSION PROJECTS: Complete the expansion of the Borger nitrogen facility on time and on budget. Complete the expansion of the MOPCO nitrogen facility in Egypt.

POTASH RAMP UP: Achieve our targeted production of 2.1 million tonnes from the Vanscoy potash mine.

RETAIL GROWTH: Remain focused on 2015 Retail key metrics. Achieve further EBITDA growth in the Landmark Retail business in Australia.

 

1  2013 Landmark Retail EBITDA adjusted to exclude goodwill impairment of $220-million

 

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AGRIUM STRIVES TO BE AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE WHEREVER WE OPERATE ACROSS THE GLOBE.

Our leadership is committed to providing a work atmosphere that is not only safe and secure, but also supports diversity in all forms. We do not accept the status quo. To ensure we’re always evolving and improving as a company, we instill proactive, solution-based thinking at all levels of our organization and make it a priority to provide opportunities for our employees to learn and grow. Our dedication to these principles and our commitment to investing in our employees have continued to yield outstanding returns.

In 2014, we were proud to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Agrium Women’s Leadership Group, which provides mentoring, networking and development opportunities for women within Agrium to help them reach their full potential.

 

 

OUR EMPLOYEES ARE OUR GREATEST ASSETS. OUR CONTINUED SUCCESS IS A DIRECT RESULT OF THEIR DILIGENT AND CREATIVE EFFORTS TO DELIVER BOTTOM-LINE VALUE EVERY DAY. WE ARE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING A WORK ENVIRONMENT THAT IS FIRST AND FOREMOST SAFE, AND ONE THAT CONSTANTLY PROVIDES STIMULATING OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW AND SUCCEED AT ALL LEVELS OF THE COMPANY. 2014 WAS A YEAR OF BOTH OPPORTUNITY AND CHALLENGE FOR AGRIUM, AND WE ARE MOST GRATEFUL FOR THE DEDICATION AND PROFESSIONALISM DEMONSTRATED BY ALL.”

– Mike Webb

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

 

 

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AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE IN NORTH AMERICA

 

 

We at Agrium know that our focus on providing a top-tier workplace is a key factor that sets us apart from other employers. In 2014, we continued to receive recognition for our commitment to being an employer of choice as we were named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Top Employers for Young People, Canada’s Top 100 Employers, Alberta’s Top 65 Employers, Achievers’ 50 U.S. Most Engaged Workplaces and the Company of the Year Award from Women in Agribusiness.

 

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PURSUING CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

 

 

We listen to stakeholders to identify core areas of focus, and we implement systems and policies to improve our performance with their support.

 

 

ENVIRONMENT

 

Climate change is a priority on our sustainability agenda. We have succeeded in achieving energy efficiencies at most of our facilities; however, addressing climate change requires that we continue to challenge ourselves. We are pleased to announce that we have set a new target to reduce our direct North American Wholesale greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 20 percent from our 2005 baseline by 2020.

We co-created a best practice protocol for farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer application. This protocol is now being extended into the U.S., and it is being refined as new research findings emerge. We also continue to pursue carbon capture and storage opportunities with our Borger, Texas, facility capturing more than 300,000 tonnes in 2014.

 

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In 2014, we achieved our lowest environmental incident rate ever – a 95 percent improvement since 2000. For more information on our environmental, health, safety, and sustainability (EHS&S) efforts in 2014, see our Sustainability Report to be released later in 2015.

 

 

SAFETY

 

Agrium is committed to the safety of our employees, contractors, carriers, customers and neighbors. Our ongoing awareness initiatives, training and procedures have embedded a strong safety culture throughout Agrium. We focus on public safety through a highly structured transportation process, stringent protocols for storage of chemicals at our facilities, and ongoing monitoring. Our focus for employee and contractor safety remains on eliminating life-threatening and life-altering incidents, and we continually strive for zero injuries. We prioritize safety by tying a portion of employee compensation to the achievement of our safety objectives. Despite these efforts, however, a contractor suffered a fatal injury while working on an Agrium site in 2014.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

 

 

 

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

  15   

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – A YEAR OF INVESTMENT AND REFINEMENT FOR THE FUTURE

  16   

RETAIL

  18   

WHOLESALE

  29   

OTHER

  44   

2015 AGRICULTURAL AND CROP INPUT MARKET OUTLOOK

  45   

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

  48   

KEY BUSINESS METRICS

  48   

CONSOLIDATED PERFORMANCE

  50   

QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

  54   

FINANCIAL CONDITION

  56   

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

  58   

DEBT INSTRUMENTS, CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND RATINGS

  60   

BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS

  63   

OUTSTANDING SHARE DATA

  63   

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

  63   

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

  64   

ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT

  64   

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

  68   

CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

  69   

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS

  69   

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

  73   

ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND POLICY CHANGES

  75   

ADDITIONAL IFRS AND NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

  76   

2014 FOURTH QUARTER MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

  80   

KEY ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS IN RESPECT OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

  85   

 

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This Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) of operations and financial condition focuses on Agrium’s long-term vision, strategy and growth opportunities as well as its historical performance for the two years ended December 31, 2014. The Board of Directors of Agrium (the “Board”) carried out its responsibility for review of this disclosure and, prior to publication, approved this disclosure.

Throughout this MD&A, unless otherwise specified, “Agrium”, “the Company”, “we”, “our”, “us” and similar expressions refer collectively to Agrium Inc. and its subsidiaries, any partnerships involving Agrium Inc. or any of its subsidiaries, its significant equity investments and Agrium Inc.’s share of its joint ventures.

Additional information relating to the Company, including its consolidated quarterly and annual financial information and its Annual Information Form (“AIF”) for the year ended December 31, 2014, is available under Agrium’s corporate profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The Company’s reports are also filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR (www.sec.gov).

All dollar amounts refer to U.S. dollars, except where otherwise stated. 2014 and 2013 financial information presented and discussed in this MD&A is prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

Certain financial measures in this MD&A, listed in the table below, are not prescribed by IFRS. Our method of calculation of the non-IFRS financial measures may not be directly comparable to that of other companies. We consider these non-IFRS financial measures to provide useful information to both management and investors in measuring our financial performance and financial condition. These non-IFRS financial measures should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Refer to page 76, “Additional IFRS and Non-IFRS Financial Measures” for further details, including a reconciliation of the non-IFRS financial measures to their most directly comparable measure calculated in accordance with IFRS.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures:

 

 

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (“EBITDA”), Adjusted EBITDA, EBITDA to sales, debt to EBITDA

 

Retail: North America, International and Total Retail Measures: return on operating capital employed (“ROOCE”), return on capital employed (“ROCE”), average non-cash working capital to sales, operating coverage ratio, cash operating coverage ratio and Earnings Before Interest and Tax (“EBIT”)

 

Comparable store sales and normalized comparable store sales

 

Capital expenditures – sustaining and investing

 

Cost of product manufactured, debt-to-capital ratio

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements and other information included in this MD&A constitute “forward-looking information” and/or “financial outlook” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation or “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities legislation (collectively herein referred to as “forward-looking statements”), including the “safe harbour” provisions of provincial securities legislation and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the words “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “project”, “intend”, “estimate”, “outlook”, “focus”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “would”, “could” and other similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements in this MD&A are intended to provide Agrium shareholders and potential investors with information regarding Agrium, including management’s assessment of future financial and operational plans and outlook, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. Refer to page 85, “Key Assumptions and Risks in Respect of Forward-looking Statements”, for further details.

 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – A YEAR OF INVESTMENT AND REFINEMENT FOR THE FUTURE

2014 | CONSOLIDATED AND BUSINESS UNIT FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

In 2014, Agrium’s net earnings from continuing operations were $798-million, compared to $1.1-billion in 2013. Our 2014 EBITDA was $1.7-billion compared to $2.1-billion in 2013 with the decline primarily due to lower nutrient prices in 2014 and extended downtime at our potash mine required to tie-in the one million tonne capacity expansion. Our Retail business unit achieved record EBITDA of $1.1-billion in 2014, compared to $957-million1 in 2013. The increase was a result of a full year of operational results from the highly successful Viterra acquisition in 2014. Results were also supported by a significant improvement in international Retail business margins. Our Wholesale business unit reported Adjusted EBITDA of $821-million in 2014, compared to $1.3-billion in 2013. The decline reflects lower potash and nitrogen gross profit in 2014. For potash, the decrease was due to lower global benchmark prices and the impact of reduced volumes and higher costs in 2014 related to the extended turnaround associated with the tie-in of our potash expansion project that was completed in the fourth quarter of 2014. For nitrogen, the reduction in gross profit was due to a combination of lower realized prices and slightly higher cost of production as a result of higher natural gas prices and planned turnarounds during the year.

 

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2014 IN REVIEW

Lower crop prices and reduced crop acreage in the U.S. had a dampening impact on demand for crop inputs in 2014. Grower purchases of agricultural inputs and services were impacted by a shift of five million planted acres from corn to soybeans in the U.S., as crop input expenditures on corn are almost twice as much as on soybeans. Crop prices were further pressured in the second half of 2014 by record high corn and soybean yields in the U.S. and globally this summer. In addition, the fall application window was much shorter than usual in 2014 due to the combination of a late harvest and an early start to winter across most of the U.S. As a result, a portion of the nutrient volumes expected to be applied in the fall of 2014 are expected to be pushed into the spring of 2015.

Global nutrient markets were mixed in 2014, with most nitrogen prices down slightly year-over-year. Potash prices were significantly lower following the August 2013 breakup of the Belarusian Potash Company (“BPC”) marketing agency. Global nutrient demand is estimated to have risen about 2 to 3 percent in 2014, in line with longer-term growth trends, despite lower global crop prices and a reduction in U.S. corn acreage in 2014. In nitrogen, Chinese urea exports reached record levels this year, which kept global nitrogen prices trading in a fairly narrow range. The potash market worked through the BPC breakup and prices started to recover in mid-2014 as inventories began to tighten, especially after a Russian mine closed due to flooding in the fall of 2014.

2014 was a year of investment to grow Agrium’s future earnings potential, particularly with respect to expanding our Wholesale capacity. Growth in our Retail earnings this year was due largely to the successful Western Canadian Viterra acquisition and a significant improvement in the earnings of our international business, particularly in our Australian operations. We expect to continue to grow Retail earnings through our focus on continuous improvement initiatives, including growing our market share and expanding our product lines for our proprietary products in seed, crop protection and nutrients, and through gaining efficiencies across our facility network and equipment optimization. We also expect to continue to expand Retail through numerous tuck-in acquisitions as part of our growth strategy and expansion of our proprietary Loveland product lines. Retail completed 22 transactions in 2014, adding 32 retail locations as well as several equity investments in agricultural technology operations that add to our proprietary product capabilities.

 

 

1  Excluding a $257-million purchase gain for the Viterra transaction and adjustments of $8-million in integration costs, partly offset by a goodwill impairment of $220-million for our Australia operations.

 

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For our Wholesale operations, we advanced expansion projects in our potash and nitrogen operations in 2014. We completed the tie-in for our one million tonne potash expansion at the Vanscoy facility and restarted the facility at the end of 2014. We made good progress on a number of nitrogen expansion projects at existing facilities, including Borger, Texas, and facilities in which we have equity positions in Argentina and Egypt. We also completed major upgrades and repairs at a number of our other existing facilities in Western Canada this year, particularly at our Redwater, Fort Saskatchewan and Carseland nitrogen production facilities. These upgrades and repairs are expected to allow the facilities to operate at higher rates in 2015 and beyond.

A key focus for Agrium in 2014 was the implementation of Operational Excellence initiatives and continuation of our portfolio review, which we initiated in late 2013. As part of the portfolio review, the Agrium Advanced Technologies (“AAT”) business unit was dissolved in 2013. The Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (“ESN®” herein after referred to as “ESN”) results have been re-integrated into the Wholesale business unit starting in 2014, and the Turf and Ornamental operations were sold for $94-million. We also recently agreed to sell assets associated with Wholesale’s North American Purchase for Resale business for $50-million. Agrium set new targets for Operational Excellence in 2014 and made progress toward realizing many of these targets this year. Improved average non-cash working capital to sales levels were realized across the organization and Retail exceeded its 18-percent target ratio for 2015, ahead of schedule and continued to demonstrate improvement toward all other key operational targets in 2014.

Agrium made numerous changes to its capital allocation policy over the past year. We increased our target dividend payout ratio to 40 to 50 percent of our free cash flow from the previous target of 25 to 35 percent. We also increased our dividend by 4 percent in 2014 to its current annual level of $3.12 per share – the fourth increase in the past three years. We increased our minimum hurdle rate on new investment projects and announced a share repurchase program. This will provide flexibility to repurchase shares, particularly as our capital expenditures wind down and seasonal cash flow increases in the second half of 2015.

The significant capital expenditures and associated downtime required in 2014 for our expansion projects resulted in a rise in Agrium’s debt to EBITDA ratio to 3.0X as of the end of 2014. We expect our future free cash flow to benefit from the higher earnings potential and lower future investment capital expenditure once these Wholesale expansion projects are complete in 2015 as well as from anticipated continued growth in our Retail earnings. As we look forward, we expect to be in a position to reduce the debt to EBITDA ratio and continue to increase the dividend and other returns of capital to shareholders over time in-line with growing free cash flow while continuing to grow the business.

 

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Our Retail distribution and services business provides growers with leading products, technologies and extensive agronomic experience, all backed by a commitment to sound environmental practices. Our more than 3,000 agronomists and field experts work directly with growers to help them maximize the productivity of their farms by implementing the best management practices based on a thorough understanding of soils, climate conditions and crop requirements. To further meet growers’ needs, we provide the latest precision agriculture and application services for the products we sell under our platform known as Echelon. We also provide innovative proprietary nutritionals and crop protection product offerings under Loveland Products, seed products under the brand names Dyna-Gro and Proven, and animal health products under the brand name Dalgety. These leading inputs not only provide growers with highly effective and profitable options to produce and protect their crops, but also deliver higher margins for Agrium. In certain regions, we also provide other rural services. In Australia, we provide livestock marketing and auction services and facilitate real estate and insurance services to our broad customer base. In Canada, we also market crop storage bins, provide fuel sales and services, and offer financial services to our customers.

Our Retail distribution business provides earning stability for Agrium given that retail margins tend to be more stable than wholesale margins. This stability is further supported by our extensive geographic and crop diversity and by the fact that demand for crop inputs and services is mostly driven by planted crop acreages which are relatively consistent.

RETAIL – KEY DEVELOPMENTS

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Agrium’s Retail distribution remains focused on Operational Excellence, by striving to reach our operational and financial targets through various means. These include increasing the sales and earnings from our base business by continuing to focus on growing our proprietary product line; developing new services such as our precision agriculture offering; maximizing our purchasing power across geographies and products; and optimizing our facility footprint and equipment utilization rates. Additional areas of focus include capturing further synergies and improvements across our latest acquisitions in North America and Australia, while continuing to deliver on accretive acquisitions.

We achieved yet another year of improvement across all of our identified Retail metrics in 2015. Average non-cash working capital to sales declined to 17 percent by the end of 2014, already exceeding our 2015 target of 18 percent and down from 20 percent in 2013. The reduction was due to a combination of factors, including the lower working capital requirements for the acquired Viterra operations, enhanced focus on accounts receivable collections from customers, disciplined inventory management and continued facility

 

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optimization. We will continue to strive to achieve further reductions in our average non-cash working capital to sales ratio in 2015 and beyond. In November 2014, we stated that we are targeting another $150-million reduction in Retail working capital by the end of 2017. Return metrics of ROCE and EBITDA to sales both improved by approximately 1 percent over last year, largely as a result of better performance from our international Retail businesses and strong performance from the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations.

 

Retail metrics 2012   2013   2014   2015
Targets
 

Average non-cash working capital to sales

  20   20   17   18

Operating coverage ratio (a)

  69   73   72   67

Cash operating coverage ratio (a)(b)

  62   64   61   60

EBITDA to sales

  8   8   9   10

EBITDA ($-millions)

  951      986      1,119      1,300   

ROCE

  9   9   10   13

ROOCE

  18   17   18   22
(a) 2013 metrics adjusted to exclude the impacts of the Viterra purchase gain of $257-million and a $220-million goodwill impairment for the Australia operations.
(b) Cash operating coverage ratio represents gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization less EBITDA, divided by gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization.

Our Australian Retail operations made significant improvements in 2014, with EBITDA reaching $90-million compared to $52-million in 2013, excluding the 2013 goodwill impairment. The significant year-over-year improvement reflects a combination of factors, including additional emphasis on cost-reduction, significant improvement in the livestock markets, both domestically and abroad, and improved weather conditions.

We also continue to optimize our network of facilities through further implementation of our “hub and spoke” model. As farm size continues to expand and modern equipment has delivered increased efficiency, fewer retail facilities are required to service the remaining farms. With this in mind, Retail continues to optimize its facility footprint, which includes converting some farm centers to supercenters, shifting other facilities to satellites or un-manned warehouses, and closing facilities whose customers can be served effectively by other existing sites. In 2014, Retail consolidated 46 locations.

Our Retail distribution operation provides more stable margins than our Wholesale business, due to an inherent cost-plus mark up on products, our proprietary product offerings and custom application services, as well as our diverse base of customers and crops. We serve more than 50 different crops through our globally diversified footprint.

Another Operational Excellence priority is improving the utilization and efficiency of the equipment we use to provide application services. Crop Production Services operates one of the largest fleets of agricultural equipment in North America consisting of more than 55,000 units (excluding salespersons’ vehicles). Through the use of technology such as GPS tracking and big-data analytics, we have identified optimization opportunities for the deployment and usage of this fleet. We have also made adjustments to our approach to purchasing of equipment to gain further efficiencies and leverage our scale.

Agrium has been offering precision agriculture services to U.S. grower customers for more than 10 years. Precision agriculture is a broad term that refers to agricultural practices that use information technology, global positioning systems, and related data and production practices to recognize variance in a field’s yield potential. This information is then utilized to better match crop input use to field and crop conditions in order to optimize yields and profits, as well as to reduce loss to the environment. To obtain the greatest value from precision agriculture, providers help growers analyze massive amounts of information, including yield maps, detailed field analysis, and soil and foliar nutrient analysis to create specific product recommendations that can be precisely applied to fields. This typically includes variable-rate application of crop inputs as well as monitoring of crop, soil and yield conditions. In addition, the technology provides recordkeeping and mapping benefits to the grower. Precision agriculture also has the potential to deliver significant environmental benefits, as better measurement and placement tends to lead to improved efficiency of crop input use and a subsequent reduction in loss to the environment. Echelon is our precision agriculture technology platform. We currently provide this multi-crop service offering to an estimated 31,000 growers and are on more than 19 million acres across the U.S. alone.

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In recent years, there has been increased focus on precision agriculture products and services, stemming from improved analytical capabilities, accuracy, connectivity and synthesis of the associated data. With our custom-built Echelon platform, our goal is to ensure that our trusted agronomic advisors also become trusted technological advisors. It strengthens our crop advisors’ relationships with existing customers and provides an opportunity to bring in new customers. It also allows our crop advisors to better analyze and illustrate the effectiveness of new products and practices. Echelon generates value for Retail primarily through direct charge services such as soil sampling, through product bundling opportunities and through product pull for our extensive propriety product offering. Furthermore, Echelon is integrated with our Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) sales system, which leads to efficiencies from a Retail work order and inventory management perspective.

FOCUSED GROWTH

A major area of growth in 2014 was the addition and integration of the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations. This was completed successfully during the year, and we see opportunities for additional synergies to be captured in 2015, including moving more of our higher margin proprietary Loveland products into the Canadian operations and continuing to expand sales of our proprietary canola seed known as Proven. Proven is a leading canola seed, and we will continue to evaluate opportunities to market it in other regions in which we operate, including Australia.

In addition to integrating the Viterra acquisition, we completed a number of acquisitions of independent retail operations in 2014. This included 22 different transactions with the addition of 32 new retail facilities as well as several equity investments in agricultural technology operations. These transactions represent incremental annual EBITDA of approximately $30-million. The majority of these acquisitions took place in the U.S., where we continue to see the best opportunities for consolidation. We believe the opportunity for additional acquisitions remains robust and we will continue to actively pursue potentially valuable transactions. Retail completed several back-integration investments this year in Advanced Microbial Solutions, LLC (“Agricen”), CH Biotech R&D Co., Ltd and Cache River Valley Seed, LLC. By taking an interest in or furthering our ownership of these organizations we enable our Retail organization to be at the forefront of new plant protection and nutrition technologies, while driving global expansion and adoption of our portfolio of proprietary products.

 

 

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RETAIL – FINANCIAL RESULTS

Retail sales reached a record $13.0-billion in 2014, compared to $11.9-billion in 2013, while gross profit rose to $2.9-billion from $2.6-billion in 2013. Total EBIT in 2014 was a record $814-million, compared to $719-million1 in 2013. EBITDA reached another record of $1.1-billion in 2014, compared to $957-million1 in 2013.

Despite significant market headwinds, Agrium’s Retail business achieved record sales, gross profit and EBITDA in 2014 through various Operational Excellence initiatives, which include continued growth in proprietary products and improvements in our international operations, and the successful integration of the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations and other smaller acquisitions. Total crop inputs expenditures in the U.S. decreased due to the crop shift of approximately five million planted acres of corn to soybeans compared to 2013. As soybeans require significantly lower inputs than corn, this reduced sales opportunities for U.S. agricultural retailers this year. Growers faced significantly weaker crop prices in 2014, particularly during the second half of the year due to record crop yields across the U.S. Ideal growing conditions and a lack of pest pressure not only boosted yields but also lowered the demand for certain crop protection products this year. Furthermore, the sector experienced a comparatively late and compressed fall application season this year, which limited nutrient volumes applied in the fall of 2014.

Our proprietary products sales continued to deliver strong results in 2014, with proprietary crop protection and seed sales growing by 6 and 10 percent respectively over 2013 sales2. Overall, our proprietary product sales increased by $68-million in 2014 relative to 20132. Proprietary product sales represented 21 percent of total seed sales and 19 percent of total crop protection product sales in 2014, both increasing from 19 percent and 18 percent respectively in 2013.

Normalized comparable store sales (normalized for changes in commodity nutrient prices) decreased by 2 percent in 2014, compared to a 5 percent increase in 2013. The decrease in 2014 was primarily due to significantly lower corn acreage in the U.S., a more challenging crop protection market due to lower crop prices, and minimal pest pressure in the 2014 growing season. Smaller acquisitions completed late in 2013 and in 2014 contributed approximately $75-million in sales. Depreciation and amortization increased to $305-million in 2014, compared to $238-million in 2013, due to the impact of the addition of the Viterra operations. Sales increased by more than $1.0-billion in 2014, while cost of product sold increased by $0.8-billion relative to 2013. Total non-cash working capital was $2.0-billion at the end of 2014, compared to $2.1-billion at the end of 2013. The reduction in total non-cash working capital resulted from numerous initiatives including enhanced focus on accounts receivable collections, disciplined inventory management and the lower working capital profile of the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations. As a result, average non-cash working capital as a percentage of sales dropped to 17 percent in 2014, compared to 20 percent in 2013.

 

 

1  Excluding the 2013 Viterra purchase gain of $257-million, integration costs of approximately $8-million and a $220-million goodwill impairment for the Australia operations.
2  Excluding acquired Viterra proprietary products.

 

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RETAIL – EXPENSES

Retail selling expenses increased by 10 percent to $2.0-billion in 2014, compared to $1.8-billion in 2013. The increase was due to the addition of Viterra and the associated payroll and operating expenses. Total selling expenses as a percentage of sales were 15.6 percent in 2014, largely in line with the 15.5 percent reported in 2013. The increase in depreciation and amortization related to the acquired Viterra assets was largely offset by cash expense improvements in international operations and the continued leveraging of the size and scale of our North American operations. These factors improved the cash operating coverage ratio(b) from 62 percent in 2013 to 61 percent this year, which is approaching our target of 60 percent for 2015. In 2014, EBITDA as a percentage of sales was 9 percent compared to 8 percent in 2013, with the increase largely due to improved margins and operational cost rationalization in our international retail businesses and the continued development of size and scale in our North American operations.

Retail performance

   Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Sales

  12,981      11,913   

Cost of product sold

  10,089      9,298   

Gross profit

  2,892      2,615   

Expenses

Selling

  2,023      1,847   

General and administrative

  124      116   

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

  (6   (9

Purchase gain

       (257

Goodwill impairment

       220   

Other income

  (63   (50

EBIT

  814      748   

EBITDA

  1,119      986   

EBITDA to sales (%)

  8.6      8.3   

Operating coverage ratio (%) (a)

  72      73   

Cash operating coverage ratio (%) (a)(b)

  61      64   

Comparable store sales (%)

  (4   (2

Normalized comparable store sales (%)

  (2   5   

Average non-cash working capital to sales (%)

  17      20   
(a) 2013 metrics adjusted to exclude the impacts of the Viterra purchase gain of $257-million and a $220-million goodwill impairment for the Australia operations
(b) Cash operating coverage ratio represents gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization less EBITDA, divided by gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization

CROP NUTRIENTS: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Retail supplies the crop nutrients essential to growing healthy plants, including dry and liquid nitrogen and phosphates, potash, sulfur and micronutrients. Retail acquires crop nutrient products from a wide variety of suppliers at market prices, including purchases from Wholesale. Approximately 30 percent of Retail’s North American nutrient purchases come from Wholesale, although in certain regions and with certain products the share is over 50 percent. These crop nutrient products are typically blended at Retail branches or applied using variable-rate technology equipment at the field site. Retail delivers additional value to growers through its application services, which are provided on a fee-for-service basis. Our Retail branches work closely with growers to understand their goals and customize our delivery of products, agronomic advice and product application services to help achieve those goals. Our Retail agronomists use the 4R nutrient stewardship system as well as our Echelon precision agriculture platform to help determine the right nutrient source, applied at the right time, at the right rate and in the right place. The precision agriculture service provides our agronomists with highly sophisticated tools that help growers to better recognize the differences in yield potential within a field and adjust crop inputs accordingly, thereby increasing their productivity and returns while reducing impact on the environment.

 

 

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CROP NUTRIENTS: FINANCIAL RESULTS

Our crop nutrient sales were $5.2-billion in 2014 compared to $5.0-billion in 2013. The increase was due to the additional sales from the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations. This was mostly offset by lower average sales-to-grower pricing compared to 2013. Retail nutrient sales volumes increased by 13 percent, reaching 9.7 million tonnes in 2014 compared to 8.6 million tonnes in 2013. The increase in sales volumes was due to the addition of Viterra’s Agri-products operations and higher Australian volumes. Cost of product sold increased slightly to $4.3-billion in 2014 compared to $4.2-billion in 2013 due to the higher overall volumes; however, this was largely offset by the lower average cost to procure nutrients. Gross profit reached $931-million this year, compared to $839-million in 2013. Crop nutrient margins of $96 per tonne in 2014 were similar to the $97 per tonne achieved in 2013. Crop nutrient gross profit as a percentage of sales was 17.8 percent in 2014 compared to 16.8 percent in 2013, which is significant considering the downward pressure on global crop prices in 2014. Agrium continued to grow sales of its proprietary nutritional products, which achieve higher margins than traditional commodity nutrients and helped support Agrium’s overall nutrient margins again in 2014.

 

 

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CROP PROTECTION PRODUCTS: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Retail’s crop protection business markets a broad spectrum of herbicide, fungicide, insecticide and adjuvant products that help growers minimize yield losses and protect crops from weeds, diseases and insects. Our Retail business serves as both a retailer of crop protection products and, to a lesser extent, a wholesaler to other retail operators. We are the largest independent distributor of crop protection products in North America. As part of our proprietary Loveland crop protection operations, we own and operate numerous blending and formulation facilities including major production facilities in Greeley, Colorado; Billings, Montana; Greenville, Mississippi; Casilda, Argentina; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and two formulation facilities in Western Australia and Victoria, Australia. We also have an investment in a formulation plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Retail also owns significant interests in several agricultural biotechnology companies through its Loveland Products, Inc. business, which allows us to be at the forefront of developing new crop protection products for our customers.

CROP PROTECTION PRODUCTS: FINANCIAL RESULTS

The crop protection product category delivered solid results in 2014. Product sales increased to $4.6-billion in 2014 compared to $4.2-billion in 2013, while cost of product sold increased to $3.6-billion compared to $3.2-billion in 2013. Gross profit for crop protection products reached $1.1-billion in 2014 compared to $987-million in 2013. The increase in sales and gross profit was primarily due to the contribution of the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations. Gross margin for crop protection products was 22.9 percent in 2014 compared to 23.5 percent in 2013. The lower gross margin was due to a shift in product mix from higher-margin to lower-margin products and geographies. On a product basis, this was partly due to a lack of pest pressure during critical times

 

 

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in plant development in the U.S. this year and the fact that growers were reducing input costs to maintain profit margins with lower crop prices in the second half of 2014. Demand for higher-margin products such as fungicides and insecticides declined in the U.S. due to exceptionally good growing conditions this season and because early season herbicide applications produced better-than-average results this year. Our proprietary crop protection products accounted for approximately 18.8 percent of our total crop protection product sales, compared to approximately 18.2 percent in 2013, and they continued to contribute margins significantly higher than other crop protection products. Sales growth for our proprietary crop protection products rose 6 percent over last year, excluding the contributions from the Viterra operations.

SEED: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Retail’s network provides seed, and seed-related information, to growers across key agricultural regions. We offer our own proprietary Dyna-Gro and Proven branded seed and also procure seed from top global suppliers. Our Dyna-Gro seed specialists license leading seed traits from major seed suppliers and match seed characteristics to local soil and growing conditions to support the best results for growers in each area. Increases in seed market share, combined with continued technological advances in seed genetics, and our focus on delivering high-quality seed products to our customers, provide significant potential for continued strong growth in this key area of our business. The Viterra acquisition brought with it a significant canola seed research and development program. With laboratories in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Horsham, Australia, as well as vast germplasm bank and research farms in Saskatchewan, we have acquired significant plant breeding capabilities that will allow us to continue developing improved canola seed varieties that are marketed under the brand name Proven. These proprietary product lines add significant margin value to our overall seed sales. Proprietary seed sales represented just over 20 percent of total seed sales in 2014. Agrium also provides seed treatment products and related services at our retail locations, which involve applying crop protection products that are specifically designed to promote healthy seed germination and early stage plant growth directly to the seed prior to planting.

SEED: FINANCIAL RESULTS

Seed sales reached $1.5-billion in 2014 compared to $1.3-billion in 2013. The increase was due primarily to contributions from Viterra’s canola seed operations, improved sales volumes from soybeans, and continued growth in our Dyna-Gro proprietary seed sales in the U.S. Cost of product sold for seed also increased to $1.2-billion in 2014 from $984-million in 2013. Gross profit from seed was $319-million compared to $274-million in 2013. At 21.5 percent, gross margin for 2014 was largely in-line with the 21.8 percent reported in 2013, though it was slightly influenced by the crop shift to soybeans from corn. In 2014, Agrium’s proprietary seed sales increased by 10 percent to $258-million, excluding Viterra’s proprietary seed sales. Proprietary seed sales accounted for 20.6 percent of our total seed sales compared to 18.7 percent in 2013.

 

 

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MERCHANDISE: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

The merchandise product category includes fencing, feed supplements, livestock-related animal health products, irrigation equipment and other products. The fuel and equipment businesses acquired from Viterra in Canada are also included in the merchandise category. This product line is a much larger component of our Australian and Canadian operations than our U.S. and South American Retail operations.

MERCHANDISE: FINANCIAL RESULTS

Merchandise sales totaled $871-million in 2014 compared to $612-million in 2013. Gross profit reached $114-million in the current year compared to $94-million in 2013. The increase in sales was mainly due to the addition of the Viterra fuel and equipment operating lines. The increase in gross profit reflects higher margins as a percentage of sales in Australia (as an improvement in the global livestock sector supported demand for animal health products) and actions taken to improve returns from this line of business such as rationalizing the number of product lines and stock keeping units (“SKUs”) to focus on the most profitable products. The increase in margins in Australia was offset by the addition of the Viterra fuel operations, which return relatively low margins. Overall margins were 13.1 percent in 2014 compared to 15.4 percent in 2013.

SERVICES AND OTHER: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Agrium delivers value to growers and earns customer loyalty through services such as product application, soil and leaf testing, crop scouting and precision agriculture services. We maintain a large fleet of application equipment and other rolling stock to ensure timely applications of both nutrients and crop protection products at optimal rates. Another service we provide to growers is seed treatment, which involves applying products to seeds to protect them from pests and disease. Our Australian operations also offer livestock marketing as well as various insurance and real estate services.

Retail also offers tissue and soil sampling services aimed at optimizing yields. Our Echelon precision agriculture offering includes services such as yield data mapping, record-keeping, soil fertility management, variable-rate fertilizer application and variable-rate seeding recommendations, along with agronomic advice and proprietary product considerations. Agrium’s precision agriculture service is being used on more than 22 million acres of growers’ land in the U.S. and Canada. Retail currently captures much of the value from these precision agricultural services through three positions: the bundling of products and application services, indirect sales of proprietary and non-proprietary products, and a per-acre charge for soil and tissue sampling resulting from the Echelon platform recommendations.

SERVICES AND OTHER: FINANCIAL RESULTS

Sales of services and other were $794-million in 2014 compared to $846-million in 2013. This decrease was due primarily to lower sales in Australia – specifically the export of wool, which has been discontinued due to low returns on investment and high working capital. Despite the lower sales, gross profit increased to $474-million in 2014 compared to $421-million in the previous year. Gross margins improved to 59.7 percent in 2014 from 49.8 percent in 2013. The higher gross profit reflects improved margins from Australian and international livestock markets and stronger margins for services at our legacy North American operations.

Product line performance

   Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Crop nutrients

Sales

  5,222      4,993   

Cost of product sold

  4,291      4,154   

Gross profit

  931      839   

Gross profit (%)

  17.8      16.8   

Crop protection products

Sales

  4,613      4,204   

Cost of product sold

  3,559      3,217   

Gross profit

  1,054      987   

Gross profit (%)

  22.9      23.5   

Seed

Sales

  1,481      1,258   

Cost of product sold

  1,162      984   

Gross profit

  319      274   

Gross profit (%)

  21.5      21.8   

Merchandise

Sales

  871      612   

Cost of product sold

  757      518   

Gross profit

  114      94   

Gross profit (%)

  13.1      15.4   

Services and other

Sales

  794      846   

Cost of product sold

  320      425   

Gross profit

  474      421   

Gross profit (%)

  59.7      49.8   

Total sales

  12,981      11,913   

Total cost of product sold

  10,089      9,298   

Total gross profit

  2,892      2,615   

Total gross profit (%)

  22.3      22.0   

 

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Regional performance

   2014   2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) North
America
  International   North
America
  International  

Sales

  10,463      2,518      9,329      2,584   

Cost of product sold

  8,080      2,009      7,175      2,123   

Gross profit

  2,383      509      2,154      461   

Gross profit (%)

  22.8      20.2      23.1      17.8   

Expenses

Selling

  1,622      401      1,450      397   

General and administrative

  80      44      64      52   

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

  (3   (3   (3   (6

Purchase gain

            (257     

Goodwill impairment

                 220   

Other income

  (39   (24   (40   (10

EBIT

  723      91      940      (192

EBITDA

  980      139      1,142      (156

Retail gross profit from our North American operations improved in 2014, supported by particularly strong results for crop nutrients, seed, and services and other due to the addition of Viterra Agri-product operations. International margins also increased as a result of ongoing operational improvements and stronger results in Australia due to an improved regional agricultural market and improvements in the overall livestock sector.

North American EBIT declined in 2014 relative to 2013, as a result of the $257-million purchase gain recorded in 2013 associated with the highly successful Viterra acquisition. Results for the North American operations, excluding the acquisition of the Viterra Agri-product operations, were challenged somewhat by lower crop prices and a relatively narrow nutrient application window in both the spring and fall seasons in 2014. International EBIT increased in 2014 due to improved volumes and margins in both Australia and South America, even after adjusting for a $220-million goodwill impairment of Australian assets in 2013.

 

 

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RETAIL – QUARTERLY RESULTS

Our Retail business is seasonal and is strongly influenced by the second quarter, which includes the spring application and planting season in North America and the early fall application season in Australia that takes place ahead of the winter wheat seeding season.

North America experienced a relatively late spring and early winter in 2014, which delayed harvest and shortened the nutrient application window in the fall.

As a result, a portion of fourth quarter 2014 sales volumes are expected to be pushed into the first half of 2015. Furthermore, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, crop conditions for corn and soybeans in the U.S. were some of the best in history, which led to unusually high yields and a significant reduction in grain and oilseed prices. Despite these challenges, Agrium’s quarterly Retail results improved year-over-year, primarily due to the addition of the Viterra operations.

Retail quarterly results*

   2014   2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) Q4   Q3   Q2   Q1   Q4   Q3   Q2   Q1  

Sales – North America*

  1,482      1,738      5,511      1,717      1,538      1,531      4,657      1,587   

Sales – International*

  575      557      886      515      564      578      906      552   

Total sales

  2,057      2,295      6,397      2,232      2,102      2,109      5,563      2,139   

Cost of product sold

  1,443      1,753      5,048      1,845      1,516      1,598      4,421      1,763   

Gross profit

  614      542      1,349      387      586      511      1,142      376   

Gross profit (%)

  30      24      21      17      28      24      21      18   

Gross profit by product

Crop nutrients

  156      142      505      128      178      116      424      121   

Crop protection products

  260      232      457      105      205      248      406      128   

Seed

  50      27      196      46      60      30      140      44   

Merchandise

  30      36      24      24      30      19      23      22   

Services and other

  118      105      167      84      113      98      149      61   

EBIT

  104      51      714      (55   123      91      562      (28

EBITDA

  181      130      791      17      195      147      619      25   
     
  2014   2013  
(in percentages) Dec 31   Sept 30   June 30   March 31   Dec 31   Sept 30   June 30   March 31  

Average non-cash working capital to sales (a)

  17      17      17      19      20      20      20      20   

Operating coverage ratio (a)(b)

  72      72      70      74      73      72      72      72   

Cash operating coverage ratio (a)(b)

  61      62      61      64      64      64      64      64   

Comparable store sales (c)

  (4   (3   (2   (3

Normalized comparable store sales (c)

  (2        5      1   

Return on operating capital employed (a)

  18      18      19      16      17      16      15      15   

Return on capital employed (a)

  10      10      11      9      9      8      8      8   
(a) These measures are based on rolling four quarters ended.
(b) Adjusted to exclude the impacts of the 2013 Viterra purchase gain of $257-million and a $220-million goodwill impairment for the Australia operations.
(c) These measures are based on six months ended for June 30 results and 12 months ended for December 31 results.
* Sales by location of third-party customers.

 

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LOGO

Our Wholesale operations have numerous competitive advantages that help ensure profitability even under challenging market conditions. One key advantage is that the majority of our production capacity and distribution capability is located close to our key end-markets, allowing us to leverage lower freight costs and logistical synergies. Wholesale also benefits from leveraging Retail’s position as the largest agriculture retail distribution business in North America. Our nitrogen facilities have access to some of the lowest cost natural gas globally, due to their locations in Alberta, Canada, the U.S. and Egypt. Our potash reserves in Saskatchewan, Canada, represent some of the highest quality and lowest cost reserves in the world. Our potash expansion project is expected to significantly lower our per-tonne cost of production over the next few years as we ramp-up the new incremental capacity. Our phosphate business benefits from an in-market transportation advantage, a competitive cost position in sulfur and an integrated ammonia supply from our nitrogen facilities.

 

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GROWERS USE THE FOLLOWING THREE KEY CROP NUTRIENTS TO HELP REPLENISH SOIL NUTRIENT BALANCE AND ENHANCE CROP YIELDS AND QUALITY.

 

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Role of nutrient
Improves crop growth, yield and protein levels. Stimulates root development and flowering and encourages early crop development. Regulates plant growth processes and helps protect crops from drought and disease.
Our products
Ammonia, urea, urea ammonium nitrate (“UAN”) solutions, ammonium nitrate. Monoammonium phosphate (“MAP”), superphosphoric acid (“SPA”) products. Muriate of potash (“MOP” or “potash”).
Our advantages
Ÿ Overall low North American natural gas prices and a further Western Canadian AECO gas advantage relative to NYMEX; and Ÿ  Competitive cost position for sulfur and ammonia; Ÿ    World-scale, high-quality and low-cost advantage;
Ÿ  In-market freight advantage; and

 

Ÿ   

 

High historical operating rate due to integration with Retail and a balanced geographic sales mix;

Ÿ Facilities located near key end-markets in the Americas and Europe. Ÿ  Integrated Conda rock supply.

 

Ÿ   

 

Capacity expansion initiative; and

       

 

Ÿ   

 

Partner in a major international marketing and logistics company (Canpotex).

 

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2014 Wholesale capacity, production and sales               
(thousands of metric product tonnes) Capacity (c)   Production (a)(c)   Sales (b)  

Nitrogen volumes

North America

Canada

  3,515      2,348         1,581   

U.S.

  1,333      1,189         1,731   

Total nitrogen

  4,848      3,537         3,312   

Potash volumes

North America

Canada (f)

  2,035      1,058         124   

U.S.

       —         697   

International

       —         443   

Total potash

  2,035      1,058         1,264   

Phosphate volumes

North America

Canada

  660      594         650   

U.S.

  510      539         492   

Total phosphate

  1,170      1,133         1,142   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other volumes

North America

Canada

  546      485         530   

U.S.

  559      430         533   

Total ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  1,105      915         1,063   

Total produced product

  9,158      6,643         6,781   

Product purchased for resale volumes (d)

North America

U.S.

       —         913   

International

       —         1,577   

Total product purchased for resale

              2,490   

Total Wholesale

  9,158      6,643         9,271   

Wholesale equity accounted joint ventures:

International nitrogen (e)

  635      471         454   

International product purchased for resale

       —         287   

 

(a) Production, net of transfers.
(b) Sales represent country of sales destination, not country of production.
(c) Aqua ammonia and nitrates, SPA and Merchant Grade Phosphoric Acid (“MGA”) are reported by cargo weight.
(d) Product purchased for resale includes sales of all the major crop nutrient products.
(e) Primarily represents our 50 percent joint venture interest in the capacity of Profertil S.A. (“Profertil”), which is accounted for using the equity method.
(f) 2014 potash capacity of 2.035 million tonnes excludes the recently completed potash expansion project which is expected to increase our effective potash capacity by approximately one million tonnes.

 

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WHOLESALE – KEY DEVELOPMENTS

In 2014, Wholesale took significant steps in identifying Operational Excellence initiatives and targets and progressed toward our identified growth projects. During the year, we had three nitrogen projects and one major potash growth project underway. As a result, we expect our aggregate production capacity to increase by at least 20 percent over 2014 name plate capacity by the end of 2015. We also have programs in place and targets set to increase operating rates over the same timeframe.

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

In 2014, Wholesale increased its focus on Operational Excellence and has identified savings of approximately $60-million, which are expected to be fully achieved by the end of 2017. Significant progress was made in 2014 on these initiatives, which include workforce reductions, procurement initiatives and operational improvements as well as an ongoing company-wide portfolio review.

In late 2013, the AAT business unit was dissolved and in 2014, ESN results were re-integrated into the Wholesale business unit, which achieved significant synergies.

A further action taken as a result of the portfolio review was to discontinue the purchase for resale business in North America and scale back the operations in Europe. In early 2015, agreements were signed to sell certain storage assets related to Agrium’s purchase for resale business in North America, which will generate approximately $50-million in sale proceeds.

FOCUSED GROWTH

The Vanscoy potash expansion project was tied-in to the existing infrastructure in late December 2014, at which time potash production recommenced. Our current production capacity is 2.04 million tonnes and the expansion project will increase annual potash production capacity to approximately 3 million tonnes. We will be ramping up production of the expansion volumes over the next 2  12 years. We expect to produce 2.1 million tonnes in 20151. Due to Agrium’s distribution network in domestic markets, the expanded mine is expected to run at higher operating rates than peer averages. The expansion project is also expected to reduce cost of production across all produced tonnes from the mine by approximately $20 per tonne by the end of 2017.

The Borger nitrogen expansion project, which commenced construction in 2014 and made significant progress during the year and is expected to be complete by the end of 2015. The expansion will add approximately 145,000 tonnes of gross ammonia and 610,000 tonnes of urea production. The Borger expansion project will help ensure the long-term viability of the facility as a low-cost producer and will leverage Agrium’s distribution network.

The energy efficiency debottleneck project at the Profertil nitrogen facility in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, was also mechanically completed in 2014, with commissioning and start-up expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015. This will increase Agrium’s share of production by approximately 70,000 tonnes with no additional gas required. Agrium holds a 50 percent interest in the facility, which now has a total capacity of 1.4 million tonnes of urea and 70,000 tonnes of merchant ammonia. The expansion project was focused on improving efficiency and debottlenecking the facility, and achieved the increased production through higher gas utilization and conversion.

In Egypt, work recommenced on the Egyptian Misr Fertilizers Production Company S.A.E. (“MOPCO”) nitrogen facility expansion and is on track for completion of two new production trains by the middle of 2015. Agrium holds a 26 percent share in the facility, which is located in Damietta. The facility has been operating one production train with capacity of 650,000 tonnes and will add 1.3 million tonnes of production with the two additional trains. Agrium will utilize its global distribution network to market all 1.3 million additional tonnes of product manufactured at the facility, with a significant portion of sales expected to be made into Europe.

 

 

 

1  Certain scientific and technical information regarding Vanscoy Potash Operations is based on the technical report entitled “National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on Vanscoy Potash Operations” effective October 31, 2014 (the “Technical Report”) prepared by Michael Ryan Bartsch, P. Eng. and Dennis Grimm, P. Eng. of the Company, and A. Dave Mackintosh, P Geo. of ADM Consulting Limited, each of whom is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). The Technical Report updates the technical report titled “National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on Vanscoy Potash Operations” dated February 15, 2012 and with an effective date of December 31, 2011. The Technical Report has been filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Portions of the above information are based on assumptions, qualifications and procedures that are not fully described herein. Reference should be made to the full text of the Technical Report, which is available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The technical contents of this MD&A have been reviewed by A. Dave Mackintosh, P Geo. of ADM Consulting Limited and Michael R. Bartsh and Dennis Grimm of the Company, all of whom are Qualified Persons pursuant to NI 43-101.

 

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Also in 2014, we set top-quartile operating rate targets for Wholesale assets. We undertook numerous projects and initiatives to significantly improve the on-stream time of our nitrogen production assets, including replacing end-of-life equipment at our Carseland, Fort Saskatchewan and Redwater facilities. Additional improvements included new systems designed to protect critical equipment, improved turnaround process management and new training tools for operators. These measures are expected to significantly increase operating rates at our production facilities.

The ongoing integration of the recent Viterra acquisition in Canada presents an opportunity for Wholesale to increase net returns by placing more product in Western Canada near our primary production facilities, resulting in higher netbacks. This integration of our production and Retail operations improves returns due to reduced freight costs and greater logistics efficiencies.

 

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WHOLESALE – FINANCIAL RESULTS

Sales from Wholesale operations were $4.0-billion in 2014 compared to $4.6-billion in 2013. Gross profit was $655-million in 2014 compared to $1.1-billion in 2013. Wholesale EBIT was $553-million in 2014 compared to $1.0-billion in 2013. Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $821-million in 2014 from $1.3-billion in 2013. The decline in sales and earnings was largely due to lower year-over-year potash and nitrogen prices and potash volumes. Gross profit was also impacted by higher per-tonne costs for potash and nitrogen due to higher natural gas costs in addition to planned and unplanned downtime at our potash and nitrogen facilities in 2014.

WHOLESALE – EXPENSES

Wholesale expenses were $102-million in 2014, compared to $97-million in 2013. The higher expenses this year were due to a reduction in earnings from associates and joint ventures pertaining to our interests in the nitrogen facilities in Egypt and Argentina, which are included in this line item. Excluding earnings from associates and joint ventures, actual Wholesale expenses declined to $120-million compared to $157-million in 2013. The reduction was a result of lower general and administrative and other expenses related to Agrium’s Operational Excellence initiatives during the year.

Earnings from associates and joint ventures in 2014 were $18-million compared to $60-million in 2013. Our 26-percent interest in the MOPCO nitrogen facility in Egypt reported a $1-million equity loss in 2014 compared to $17-million of equity earnings in 2013. The decrease was due to a production outage in the second half of 2014 as a result of gas supply issues and slightly lower urea prices out of the Middle East in 2014. Earnings from our 50-percent interest in the Profertil nitrogen facility in Argentina also declined in 2014 to $18-million from $43-million in 2013 due to lower selling prices for urea, consistent with global benchmark pricing. Furthermore, the Profertil facility was shut down for four weeks in 2014 to tie-in the debottleneck expansion project and also experienced some unplanned downtime in the second half of the year.

 

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Wholesale performance          
  Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Nitrogen

Sales

  1,482      1,724   

Gross profit

  381      672   

Potash

Sales

  391      564   

Gross profit

  70      270   

Phosphate

Sales

  701      654   

Gross profit

  76      67   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

Sales

  478      529   

Gross profit

  103      124   

Product purchased for resale

Sales

  921      1,131   

Gross profit

  25      9   

Total sales

  3,973      4,602   

Total gross profit

  655      1,142   

Expenses

Selling

  44      43   

General and administrative

  48      81   

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

  (18   (60

Other expenses

  28      33   

EBIT

  553      1,045   

EBITDA

  783      1,262   

EBITDA to sales (%)

  19.7      27.4   

Adjusted EBITDA

  821      1,316   

 

 

LOGO

NITROGEN LOGO PRODUCTS

Nitrogen is the largest, most important crop nutrient in terms of global use and trade, representing approximately 60 percent of the total volume of crop nutrients used globally. It is also the one crop nutrient most likely to result in an immediate adverse impact on most crops’ yield if application rates are reduced within the growing season. Nitrogen is Agrium’s most important nutrient in terms of capacity, production and sales, accounting for approximately 60 percent of our nutrient capacity. The base for virtually all nitrogen products is ammonia, which can be applied directly as a fertilizer or upgraded to products such as urea, UAN solutions or ammonium nitrate.

Agrium owns and operates five major nitrogen production facilities in North America and has a 50 percent joint venture interest in Profertil’s South American nitrogen facility, along with five additional facilities in North America that upgrade ammonia to other nitrogen products such as UAN and nitric acid. These facilities have a combined annual nitrogen production capacity of approximately 5.5 million tonnes. MOPCO’s Egyptian nitrogen facility has a total annual production capacity of 650,000 tonnes of urea, of which approximately 170,000 tonnes are attributable to Agrium through our 26-percent equity ownership in the facility. Collectively, these global production assets place Agrium among the world’s top four publicly traded nitrogen producers.

Our extensive North American nitrogen facilities benefit from the development of long-term, low-cost, non-conventional (shale) natural gas, which has positioned North America – and Alberta in particular – among the lowest-cost gas regions in the world. Furthermore, Agrium’s numerous production facilities and ability to leverage our extensive North American Retail distribution operations to optimize operating rates and netbacks are key competitive advantages. Much of our key nitrogen and phosphate product volumes are supplied to our core markets in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest where nitrogen prices are generally higher than in the other regions of North America. Profertil’s nitrogen facility also benefits from similar in-market advantages related to its position in Argentina’s large domestic fertilizer market. The MOPCO Egyptian facility, in which we have an equity position, also benefits from competitively priced natural gas and direct access to tidewater for international exports.

Annually, approximately 68 percent of our North American nitrogen sales are directed to agricultural markets, with the remaining 32 percent sold to industrial customers. Agricultural customer demand is seasonal, while industrial demand is more evenly distributed throughout the year. A high proportion of our industrial

 

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ammonia sales are priced on a gas index-plus margin basis, thereby contributing to stability in sales and earnings throughout the year. As a result, our average sales price for ammonia in a given quarter will be influenced by the relative weighting of sales to industrial customers compared to sales to the generally higher-return agricultural markets. Industrial ammonia sales volumes were approximately 498,000 tonnes in 2014, compared to 467,000 tonnes in 2013.

NITROGEN – FINANCIAL RESULTS

 

Nitrogen performance          
  Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Nitrogen

Sales

  1,482      1,724   

Cost of product sold

  1,101      1,052   

Gross profit

  381      672   

Tonnes sold (’000)

Ammonia

  1,042      1,219   

Urea

  1,287      1,270   

Other

  983      903   

Total North American tonnes sold (’000)

  3,312      3,392   

Selling price per tonne

Ammonia

  553      627   

Urea

  443      490   

Other

  341      374   

Selling price per tonne

  447      508   

Margin per tonne

  115      198   

Equity accounted joint ventures:

Nitrogen

Sales

  197      234   

Cost of product sold

  149      173   

Gross profit

  48      61   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  454      540   

Selling price per tonne

  433      433   

Margin per tonne

  105      113   

Total nitrogen including equity accounted joint ventures

Sales

  1,679      1,958   

Cost of product sold

  1,250      1,225   

Gross profit

  429      733   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  3,766      3,932   

Selling price per tonne

  446      498   

Cost of product sold per tonne

  332      310   

Margin per tonne

  114      186   

NITROGEN GROSS PROFIT

Nitrogen gross profit was $381-million in 2014, compared to $672-million in 2013. The decrease was due to lower realized selling prices for all nitrogen products, higher cost of product sold and a slight reduction in sales volumes. Our nitrogen facilities had three major outages in 2014, including a planned outage at Fort Saskatchewan for regular maintenance and a major planned outage at our Redwater facility to tie-in a new waste heat boiler – a major piece of equipment that had reached end of life. There was also an unplanned outage at the Carseland nitrogen facility related to a failure in the auxiliary boiler. These outages increased cost of product sold per tonne, as fixed facility costs were spread over lower sales volumes. The maintenance and upgrades associated with these outages are expected to allow for significantly increased utilization rates at these facilities in the future. Our average margins per tonne were $115 in 2014, compared to $198 in 2013 due to lower sales prices and higher average cost of product sold per tonne.

 

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NITROGEN PRICES

Agrium’s average realized nitrogen sales price was $447 per tonne in 2014 compared to $508 per tonne in 2013. This decrease reflects lower benchmark nitrogen prices, particularly in the first quarter of 2014 relative to the same period in 2013. Benchmark prices for international urea and North American ammonia and UAN solutions were down between 5 to 8 percent in 2014 compared to 2013 levels.

 

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NITROGEN SALES VOLUMES AND OPERATING RATES

Nitrogen sales volumes from North American operations were 3.3 million tonnes in 2014 compared to 3.4 million tonnes in 2013. Our nitrogen product category primarily consists of urea, ammonia, UAN and industrial-grade ammonium nitrate. Urea – the highest volume nitrogen product sold globally – accounted for 39 percent of Agrium’s nitrogen sales in 2014. Total production volumes at our North American facilities were 3.5 million tonnes in 2014, compared to 3.6 million tonnes in 2013. Production volumes were 1.5 million tonnes of gross urea and 2.3 million tonnes gross ammonia in 2014, compared to 1.5 million tonnes and 2.4 million tonnes respectively in 2013.

Cost of product manufactured excluding depreciation was $205 per tonne for urea and $242 per tonne for ammonia in 2014 compared to $178 per tonne and $206 per tonne respectively in 2013.

NITROGEN PRODUCT AND GAS COST

Nitrogen cost of product sold was $1.1-billion in 2014 compared to $1.1-billion in 2013. Per tonne cost of product sold averaged $332 in 2014 compared to $310 in 2013. The increase in per tonne cost of product sold was due to higher input costs for natural gas in 2014 and higher fixed costs related to the planned and unplanned outages. Production asset depreciation and amortization expense of $26 per tonne in 2014 (compared to $23 per tonne in 2013) is included in cost of product sold.

Gas volumes purchased in 2014 were 108 billion cubic feet, down from 113 billion cubic feet in 2013. Agrium’s gas cost represented in nitrogen cost of product sold for 2014 was $4.26 per MMBtu (overall gas cost of $4.06 per MMBtu, including the impact of realized gains on natural gas derivatives), compared to $3.32 per MMBtu in 2013 (overall gas cost of $3.45 per MMBtu, including the impact of realized losses on natural gas derivatives). Derivative gains or losses on all gas derivatives are included in other expenses and therefore not included in cost of product sold. The average U.S. benchmark (NYMEX) natural gas price for 2014 was $4.38 per MMBtu, compared to $3.67 per MMBtu in 2013. The Alberta (AECO) basis differential was a $0.51 per MMBtu discount to NYMEX in 2014, lower than the $0.60 discount per MMBtu differential in 2013.

Agrium took steps to benefit from the significant reduction in North American natural gas prices in early 2015. As of February, 2015, we have hedged approximately 50 percent of our total North American natural gas needs for the coming year at highly attractive gas prices, after accounting for our industrial business, which represents about 17 percent of our nitrogen sales.

 

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Natural gas prices: North American indices and  
North American Agrium prices          
(U.S. dollars per MMBtu) 2014   2013  

NYMEX

  4.38      3.67   

AECO

  3.87      3.07   

Basis

  0.51      0.60   

Wholesale

Overall gas cost excluding realized derivative impact

  4.26      3.32   

Realized derivative impact

  (0.20   0.13   

Overall gas cost (a)

  4.06      3.45   

 

(a) Weighted average gas price of all gas purchases, excluding our 50 percent share of the Profertil facility.

 

Natural gas use          
(BCF) 2014   2013  

Western Canada

  74      78   

U.S. (Borger, Texas)

  20      19   

International (Profertil)

  13      14   

Potash and other

  1      2   

Total

  108      113   

 

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Table of Contents

POTASH LOGO PRODUCTS

Agrium is North America’s third largest producer of potash. Global potash deposits are highly concentrated in only a few specific regions in the world. The world’s largest known potash deposits are located in Saskatchewan, Canada, and Canada accounted for approximately 35 percent of the global potash trade in 2014. Agrium produces potash at our facility in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan and exports international sales through our interest in Canpotex – an industry association owned by the three major Canadian potash producers, tasked with marketing potash sold outside of Canada and the U.S. Our share of Canpotex total sales was 9.1 percent in 2013, averaged 7.7 percent in 2014 and is expected to be 7.3 percent at the start of 2015. The downward trend is a result of recent capacity expansions by the other Canpotex producers. However, we anticipate our Canpotex allocation will rise back up above the 2013 figure once the proving-run associated with our one million tonne capacity expansion at Vanscoy is completed in the second half of 2015. This will determine our new prospective allocation of Canpotex export volumes.

POTASH – FINANCIAL RESULTS

 

Potash performance          
  Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Potash North America

Sales

  295      369   

Cost of product sold

  238      201   

Gross profit

  57      168   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  821      877   

Selling price per tonne

  359      421   

Margin per tonne

  70      192   

Potash international

Sales

  96      195   

Cost of product sold

  83      93   

Gross profit

  13      102   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  443      654   

Selling price per tonne

  217      298   

Margin per tonne

  29      156   

Total potash

Sales

  391      564   

Cost of product sold

  321      294   

Gross profit

  70      270   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  1,264      1,531   

Selling price per tonne

  309      369   

Cost of product sold per tonne

  253      193   

Margin per tonne

  56      176   

 

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POTASH GROSS PROFIT

Our potash gross profit in 2014 was $70-million compared to $270-million in 2013. This decrease was due to a combination of lower potash prices globally and the extended outage at the Vanscoy mine to tie-in the expansion project, which significantly reduced sales volumes and increased cost per tonne produced. As a result, our potash margins averaged $56 per tonne in 2014 compared to $176 per tonne in 2013.

 

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POTASH PRICES

North American and international sales prices for potash declined in 2014 compared to 2013 and were particularly weak during the first half of the year. Global benchmark prices were affected by weaker crop prices, the breakup of the BPC marketing agency in the second half of 2013 and capacity additions by a number of key producers. Benchmark prices in the U.S. Corn Belt trended lower for most of 2014, averaging $428 per tonne in 2014 compared to $471 per tonne in 2013 and ending 2014 at $452 per tonne. Our realized North American selling price declined by 15 percent to $359 per tonne in 2014 compared to $421 per tonne in 2013. Our average realized international sales price was $217 per tonne in 2014 – a 27 percent decline from the $298 per tonne realized in 2013. International prices are referenced at the mine site, thereby excluding transportation and distribution costs, while North American sales are referenced at delivered prices and include transportation and distribution costs. North American sales volumes accounted for 65 percent of total potash sales in 2014 compared to 57 percent in 2013. Agrium’s realized selling price for total potash sales was $309 per tonne in 2014 compared to $369 per tonne in 2013.

POTASH SALES VOLUMES AND OPERATING RATES

Potash sales volumes were 1.3 million tonnes in 2014 compared to 1.5 million tonnes in 2013. The decrease in sales volumes was due to the extended downtime to tie-in the expansion project at the Vanscoy mine. Sales of produced product into the North American market were 821,000 tonnes in 2014, down from 877,000 tonnes in 2013. International potash sales volumes accounted for 443,000 tonnes of product sales in 2014, significantly lower than the 654,000 tonnes sold in 2013 due to lower production volumes in the current year. As a result of the lower production volumes, we purchased potash in 2014 in order to maintain Agrium’s allotted potash volumes with Canpotex. Production volumes in 2014 were 1.1 million tonnes, compared to 1.7 million tonnes in 2013.

Cost of product manufactured excluding depreciation was $157 per tonne compared to $112 per tonne in 2013.

POTASH PRODUCT COST

Potash cost of product sold in 2014 was $321-million compared to $294-million in 2013. On a per tonne basis, the average cost of product sold in 2014 was $253 compared to $193 in 2013. This increase was due to higher per tonne fixed costs associated with the expansion tie-in at Vanscoy and a higher percentage of domestic sales, which include freight costs. Production asset depreciation and amortization expense of $51 per tonne in 2014 (compared to $33 per tonne in 2013) is included in the cost of product sold.

With the Vanscoy expansion, our annual production rate is expected to increase to 2.8 million tonnes, requiring 24.6 percent K2O and a milling recovery rate of 87 percent. Our Technical Report1 gives an expected mine life of 29 years when considering Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves and Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources, with an additional 32 years estimated to be contained in Inferred Mineral Resources at our higher forecasted post-expansion rate. This is based on the estimate of 175.7 million tonnes of Proven Mineral Reserves (25.6 percent K2O), 56.4 million tonnes of Probable Mineral Reserves (24.3 percent K2O), 687.0 million tonnes of Measured Mineral Resources (23.4 percent K2O) and 214.9 million tonnes of Indicated Mineral Resources (25.4 percent K2O) as described in the Technical Report. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability.

 

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1  Certain scientific and technical information regarding Vanscoy Potash Operations is based on the Technical Report. The Technical Report has been filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Portions of the above information are based on assumptions, qualifications and procedures that are not fully described herein. Reference should be made to the full text of the Technical Report, which is available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The technical contents of this MD&A have been reviewed by A. Dave Mackintosh, P Geo. of ADM Consulting Limited and Michael R. Bartsh and Dennis Grimm of the Company, all of whom are Qualified Persons pursuant to NI 43-101.

 

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PHOSPHATE LOGO PRODUCTS

Agrium is North America’s fourth largest producer of phosphate, representing over 7 percent of North American production. Collectively, Agrium’s two phosphate facilities have the capacity to produce approximately 1.2 million tonnes of phosphate-based fertilizer products annually. At our facility in Conda, Idaho, we produce MAP, SPA and MGA products, which are sold primarily in the Northwestern U.S. Our Redwater, Alberta, facility – the only phosphate production site in Canada – produces MAP primarily for distribution in Western Canada.

Three primary raw materials are required to produce granular ammonium phosphates: phosphate rock, sulfur and ammonia. Our Conda, Idaho, facility obtains rock from our Rasmussen Ridge rock mine located in the region. Our Redwater, Alberta, facility sources rock from Morocco in a long-term supply agreement with OCP S.A. (“OCP”). This agreement covers rock supply up to 2020, with purchase prices based on a formula derived from the global price of finished phosphate products. The agreement also enables Agrium to continue benefiting from our Redwater phosphate facility’s competitive sulfur and ammonia cost positions as well as our in-market delivered pricing advantage in Western Canada.

Our Redwater facility produces ammonia on-site and sources sulfur locally. Given the abundant supply of sulfur in the region due to the presence of oil and gas producers, we obtain sulfur at highly favorable prices relative to global benchmark prices. Our Conda facility sources sulfur and sulfuric acid domestically while obtaining the majority of its ammonia from our Alberta nitrogen facilities. Our competitive cost position for sulfur and ammonia is a major advantage. An additional competitive strength is our transportation cost advantage for local customers in Western Canada and the Western U.S. relative to the major phosphate producers based in Florida.

 

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PHOSPHATE – FINANCIAL RESULTS

 

Phosphate performance          
  Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Phosphate

Sales

  701      654   

Cost of product sold

  625      587   

Gross profit

  76      67   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  1,142      1,026   

Selling price per tonne

  614      638   

Cost of product sold per tonne

  548      573   

Margin per tonne

  66      65   

PHOSPHATE GROSS PROFIT

Phosphate gross profit was $76-million in 2014 compared to $67-million in 2013. The increase was due to a combination of increased sales volumes and lower cost of production, partly offset by lower realized sales prices in 2014. On a per tonne basis, our phosphate margins were $66 in 2014 compared to $65 in 2013.

 

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PHOSPHATE PRICES

Central Florida MAP prices averaged $457 per tonne in 2014 compared to $462 per tonne in 2013. Our realized phosphate price represents a blend of phosphate products, with over 84 percent of our sales made up of MAP in 2014 and the remainder being higher-value SPA and MGA. Our average realized phosphate sales price was $614 per tonne in 2014 compared to $638 per tonne in 2013, with the decline due to a change in product mix in 2014 and weaker prices at the start of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Phosphate prices are higher in Western Canada than in the Southern U.S. or U.S. Corn Belt, as pricing in this region reflects the cost of transportation associated with Western Canada’s position as a net importer of phosphates from the Southeastern U.S.

 

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PHOSPHATE SALES VOLUMES AND OPERATING RATES

Phosphate product sales volumes were 1.1 million tonnes in 2014 compared to 1.0 million tonnes in 2013. This increase was due to higher capacity utilization at our Redwater facility in the second half of 2014. Operating rates at our Redwater and Conda facilities reached 89 percent and 102 percent respectively in 2014, and production volumes totaled 1.1 million tonnes on par with production volumes in 2013. Production volumes of MAP were 0.9 million tonnes in both 2013 and 2014.

For MAP, cost of product manufactured excluding depreciation was $423 per tonne compared to $458 per tonne in 2013 as a result of lower fixed costs and higher production volumes.

PHOSPHATE PRODUCT COST

Phosphate cost of product sold was $625-million in 2014, compared to $587-million in 2013. The increase was due to higher sales volumes. Per tonne, cost of product sold was $548 in 2014 compared to $573 in 2013. The year-over-year reduction in per tonne cost of product sold was due to improved manufacturing efficiency at the Redwater facility and lower costs at both facilities. Furthermore, costs were slightly elevated in 2013 due to the closure of the Kapuskasing mine as it approached the end of its economic reserve life. Production asset depreciation and amortization expense of $46 per tonne in 2014 (compared to $52 per tonne in 2013) is included in the cost of product sold.

 

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AMMONIUM SULFATE, ESN AND OTHER WHOLESALE PRODUCTS

Our Other Wholesale products are primarily comprised of ESN and ammonium sulfate products produced in Western Canada. Ammonium sulfate fertilizer contains both nitrogen and sulfur, resulting in one of the most effective methods of supplying sulfur to soils in an immediately available form. Agrium produces ammonium sulfate at our Redwater facility, where we have competitive advantages from in-market selling price premiums and logistical advantages as well as lower priced sulfur, which is a byproduct from the oil and gas industry. ESN is a leading controlled release nitrogen fertilizer product that provides growers with significant economic and environmental benefits. ESN was previously reported under the AAT business unit, which was discontinued at the end of 2013. Moving the ESN business into Wholesale has generated operational synergies through a sharing of resources.

Our Rainbow® Plant Food (“Rainbow”) operations produces nitrogen, phosphate and potash (“NPK”) products in the Southeastern U.S. The Rainbow product line offers homogeneous distribution of NPK products, with a specific combination of nutrients and additional micronutrients contained in each granule. In contrast to the more common practice of blending different nutrient granules at a farm center, this alternative offers the advantages of reduced product segregation and a more unified distribution of nutrients. Rainbow products are produced at our facilities in Americus, Georgia, and Florence, Alabama, and are often used on high-value crops such as cotton, peanuts, vegetables and tobacco. They also have limited use on row crops.

AMMONIUM SULFATE, ESN AND OTHER WHOLESALE PRODUCTS – FINANCIAL RESULTS

Gross profit for ammonium sulfate, ESN and other was $103-million in 2014 compared to $124-million in 2013. The decrease reflects lower realized sales prices for both ammonium sulfate and our Rainbow product line, consistent with benchmark pricing. ESN also saw lower selling prices in-line with overall weaker nitrogen fertilizer prices, as well as slightly lower sales volumes of ESN manufactured at Carseland due to downtime at the facility in 2014.

 

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Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other performance  
  Years ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) 2014   2013  

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

Sales

  478      529   

Cost of product sold

  375      405   

Gross profit

  103      124   

Tonnes sold (’000)

Ammonium sulfate

  349      328   

ESN

  330      339   

Rainbow/Other

  384      332   

Total tonnes sold (’000)

  1,063      999   

Selling price per tonne

Ammonium sulfate

  332      383   

Cost of product sold per tonne

Ammonium sulfate

  175      191   

Margin per tonne

Ammonium sulfate

  157      192   

PRODUCT PURCHASED FOR RESALE

In addition to selling our manufactured products, our Wholesale business unit purchases crop nutrient products from other suppliers for resale to customers in the Americas and Europe. This business enables us to leverage our distribution and marketing network beyond what is possible through the sale of our manufactured products alone. In 2014, as part of Agrium’s Operational Excellence program, the Company conducted a portfolio review to streamline its portfolio and evaluate lower-margin businesses. The decision was made to sell portions of the Purchase for Resale business in order to maintain focus on core business lines and to further optimize working capital levels.

Sales of product purchased for resale were $921-million in 2014 compared to $1.1-billion in 2013. Total sales volumes for this business were lower at 2.5 million tonnes in 2014 compared to 2.7 million tonnes in 2013. The breakdown of sales volumes by geographic region was 1.6 million tonnes in Europe, and 0.9 million tonnes in North America.

Gross profit from our product purchased for resale business was $25-million in 2014 compared to $9-million in 2013. Our average selling price was $370 per tonne in 2014 compared to $421 per tonne in 2013. Our average per tonne margins were $10 in 2014, up from $3 in 2013. The increase in gross profit was due to higher realized margins.

WHOLESALE – DISTRIBUTION AND STORAGE

Wholesale has an extensive transportation, storage and warehousing network to optimize deliverability of product to our agricultural customers in the highly seasonal peak demand periods. In total, our global distribution and storage capacity amounts to more than 2.5 million tonnes. This is in addition to the extensive distribution and warehousing available through our Retail business; and in some cases, warehousing facilities are shared between the business units. We expect to have approximately 5,600 railcars under long-term operating leases by the end of 2015. We also use barges, pipelines and ocean vessels to transport our product. Agrium Europe owns and leases more than 325,000 tonnes of dry and liquid storage capacity at both port and inland sites.

WHOLESALE – QUARTERLY RESULTS

The agricultural sector is the primary market for our Wholesale business unit. As a result, the timing of sales fluctuates based on seasonal factors. The second quarter, which coincides with the spring application season in North America, is typically Wholesale’s most important quarter from a sales volume and EBIT perspective. The fourth quarter is also important in terms of sales volumes and EBIT, as it encompasses the fall fertilizer application season in the northern hemisphere and the spring application season in Argentina. The first quarter is generally the weakest, as application and sales volumes are light in the winter months.

 

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Wholesale quarterly results  
  2014   2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) Q4   Q3   Q2   Q1   Q4   Q3   Q2   Q1  

Sales – external

  651      626      946      852      768      690      1,352      1,021   

Sales – inter-segment

  246      177      266      209      262      96      242      171   

Total sales

  897      803      1,212      1,061      1,030      786      1,594      1,192   

Cost of product sold

  767      676      985      890      858      662      1,091      849   

Gross profit

  130      127      227      171      172      124      503      343   

Gross profit (%)

  14      16      19      16      17      16      32      29   

Nitrogen

Sales

  404      321      421      336      415      286      641      382   

Cost of product sold

  291      244      320      246      286      210      347      209   

Gross profit

  113      77      101      90      129      76      294      173   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  879      735      906      792      907      636      1,103      746   

Selling price (per tonne)

  459      438      464      424      458      450      582      511   

Margin (per tonne)

  128      105      111      113      144      119      267      224   

Potash

Sales

  9      79      175      128      107      93      212      152   

Cost of product sold

  59      77      103      82      68      66      92      68   

Gross profit

  (50   2      72      46      39      27      120      84   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  19      251      566      428      344      265      544      378   

Selling price (per tonne)

  482      313      310      298      313      349      389      404   

Margin (per tonne)

  (2,510   9      128      107      112      103      221      221   

Phosphate

Sales

  200      173      161      167      159      122      211      162   

Cost of product sold

  163      142      155      165      163      115      184      125   

Gross profit

  37      31      6      2      (4   7      27      37   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  305      261      268      308      285      192      317      232   

Selling price (per tonne)

  656      663      598      544      560      633      667      698   

Margin (per tonne)

  122      117      22      8      (16   38      83      161   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

Sales

  107      65      170      136      109      75      201      144   

Cost of product sold

  80      54      134      107      95      62      147      101   

Gross profit

  27      11      36      29      14      13      54      43   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  249      154      357      303      241      159      340      259   

Product purchased for resale

Sales

  177      165      285      294      240      210      329      352   

Cost of product sold

  174      159      273      290      246      209      321      346   

Gross profit

  3      6      12      4      (6   1      8      6   

Tonnes sold (’000)

  547      455      683      805      648      566      710      763   

Selling price (per tonne)

  326      361      418      365      370      372      462      462   

Margin (per tonne)

  5      12      18      5      (9   1      11      8   

EBIT

  84      100      191      178      159      87      465      334   

EBITDA

  142      158      252      231      213      131      534      384   

Adjusted EBITDA

  150      171      263      237      237      144      542      393   

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    43


Table of Contents

OTHER

 

 

“Other” is a non-operating segment comprising corporate and administrative functions that provide support and governance to our operating business units. Other is also used to eliminate purchase and sale transactions between our Retail and Wholesale business units so that each business unit can be evaluated independently.

Expenses included in EBIT of our non-operating segment primarily comprise general and administrative costs at our headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, share-based payments, and other expenses such as regulatory compliance, and foreign exchange gains and losses.

Other EBIT was a $207-million net expense in 2014 compared to a $163-million net expense in 2013.

Excluding the effect of share-based payments, net expense decreased by $13-million in 2014. The decrease was primarily related to lower payroll expense of $8-million in 2014 and greater non-recurring expenses of $30-million in 2013, related to Viterra acquisition costs and proxy defense costs. This decrease was partially offset by $23-million foreign exchange losses net of gains from derivative contracts due to weakening of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar.

As our share performance improved relative to our peers, share-based payments expenses increased from a recovery of $7-million in 2013 to an expense of $50-million in 2014.

 

 

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2015 AGRICULTURAL AND CROP INPUT MARKET OUTLOOK

 

 

Global grain consumption growth set a record of close to 110 million tonnes in 2013/14; a 4.7-percent increase over 2012/13 and the highest year-over-year rate of growth since 1976/77. The significant increase in consumption in 2013/14 following some major global crop production problems in 2012/13 was an indication of the insatiable global demand for food.

If historical consumption trends continue, global crop production may have to increase by approximately 55 percent from 2013 levels by 2050. The increase in production will primarily have to be achieved through continued increases in crop yield, in addition to increases in cropping area and intensity. Historically, agricultural productivity has continuously improved, driven by agronomic innovations and technology and we expect that trend to continue.

From year to year, global crop production remains dependent on weather conditions. Over the past two growing seasons, weather has cooperated in most major growing regions, producing crop yields above the long-term trend and leading to record crop production and increased inventories. While this has pressured the prices of most crops in the short-term, we expect that the combination of reduced planted area and the return to trend yield levels in 2015 could tighten the global crop supply/demand balance.

 

  Global production of grains and oilseeds set a record of three billion tonnes in 2014/15, 1 percent above the very high levels reached in 2013/14 and 9 percent above the five-year average.

 

  Global grain yields set a record for the second consecutive year. The positive deviation from trend yields in 2013/14 and 2014/15 was unprecedented for consecutive years.

 

  U.S. corn yields set a record high, surpassing the previous record level by over 5 percent and surpassing the trend yield by the highest margin since 1994.

 

  Despite the second consecutive year of record crop production, global crop prices finished 2014 on a positive note due to robust demand coupled with supply uncertainty from Russia.

KEY CROP PROTECTION MARKET DRIVERS

 

  The combination of declining crop prices and ideal growing conditions decreased pest and disease pressure and contributed to lower U.S. crop protection product demand for some products in 2014.

 

  We expect that total North American crop area will be down by about 1 to 2 percent and corn area down by about 1 to 3 percent in 2015, depending on the final size of the South American crop which may put some pressure on crop protection demand.

 

  Demand for fungicides and insecticides will be partially dependent on weather conditions, related pest pressure and crop prices in 2015.

KEY SEED PROTECTION DRIVERS

 

  Overall seed demand is expected to be down slightly in 2015 due to reduced crop area, particularly for corn and cotton.

 

  We expect demand for top genetic seed offerings to continue to be strong in 2015, as history has shown that growers tend to continue using top genetic offerings even under tighter crop production margins. However, lower crop prices may limit potential price realizations in 2015.

 

 

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NITROGEN MARKET OUTLOOK

 

Global nitrogen demand is estimated to have increased by approximately 1.5 to 2 percent in 2014 and is expected to increase by about the same amount in 2015. International nitrogen prices traded in a relatively narrow range in 2014, and this is expected to continue in 2015 (depending on the impact of Chinese exports).

 

Chinese urea exports set a record at 13.6 million tonnes in 2014 accounting for over 25 percent of global exports and up from 8.3 million tonnes in 2013. The Chinese government further loosened its export restrictions for 2015, which we expect will lead to a more even distribution of exports throughout the year.

 

Natural gas restrictions, geopolitical conflict and technical problems in key geographies were important drivers of global nitrogen markets in 2014, as nitrogen production was constrained from important producers such as Ukraine, Egypt, Algeria and Trinidad, tightening global nitrogen supplies in general and ammonia supplies in particular.

 

New nitrogen capacity is expected to be added in Algeria and Russia in 2015, while new urea capacity is scheduled to come on-stream in Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the first half of 2015 and in the U.S. in late 2015. China is expected to continue to expand its urea capacity. In recent years, project delays have resulted in lower than expected production from new projects.

 

We expect the combination of more adequate urea supplies in North America and increased first half export supplies from China will lead to less volatility in urea prices.

 

Following a relatively slow start in 2014, Indian urea import demand was unseasonably strong in late 2014 and the first quarter of 2015. Indian urea imports in the 2014/15 agricultural year are projected to total approximately 7.5 million tonnes, compared to 7.1 million tonnes in 2013/14. There is a risk that Indian urea imports will be negatively impacted by policy changes in the 2015/16 agricultural year.

 

Due to delayed harvest and the early onset of winter weather in the U.S., the fall ammonia application season was relatively narrow in 2014. This is expected to support robust demand for nitrogen products in the spring of 2015.

 

Global nitrogen demand increased by approximately 1.5 percent in 2014 and is projected to increase by 1.5 to 2 percent in 2015.

 

Some of the relatively high-cost nitrogen producers in Europe are expected to benefit from reduced crude oil prices if their natural gas prices are tied to crude oil prices. In recent years, the importance of these producers to the nitrogen market has diminished as the proportion of European nitrogen producers purchasing formula-based natural gas has declined, as has the importance to the global export market.

POTASH MARKET OUTLOOK

 

Global potash shipments set a new record of 61.5 million tonnes in 2014 as a result of very robust demand throughout 2014.

 

Global potash shipments are projected to range between 58 and 60 million tonnes in 2015, with demand expected to be seasonally strong and logistical capacity tight in the first half of the calendar year.

 

The global potash supply and demand balance is projected to remain relatively tight in 2015, in part due to the flooding of a major Russian mine in late 2014 and also due to capacity constraints in Canada resulting from the ramp-up of brownfield expansions.

 

India’s potash demand is expected to continue to grow at a robust pace in 2015, and demand may be further supported by a potential change in government policy to achieve more balanced fertilization.

PHOSPHATE MARKET OUTLOOK

 

Global phosphate demand grew by approximately 3 percent in 2014 and is projected to grow by between 1 and 2 percent in 2015, despite lower global crop prices.

 

Chinese phosphate exports set a record in 2014 reaching 7.2 million tonnes versus 4.5 million in 2013 as a result of strong global demand, particularly from Brazil.

 

North American productive capacity of phosphate declined in 2014, driven by the closure of a major plant in Florida and the bankruptcy and closure of another plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

 

There was further consolidation in the North American phosphate market in 2014 when the largest North American phosphate producer acquired the third largest North American producer.

 

India is the largest importer of DAP globally. Indian DAP imports are expected to increase by 38 percent, reaching 4.5 million tonnes in 2014/15, and are anticipated to continue to increase in 2015/16.

 

Brazilian DAP/MAP imports reached a record 3.8 million tonnes in 2014, up 12 percent from the previous record set in 2013. Import demand benefitted from reduced domestic phosphate production in 2014. Brazilian demand is projected to decline slightly in 2015 due to reduced crop area but still remain at historically high levels.

 

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Table of Contents

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

 

KEY BUSINESS METRICS

Our financial results are sensitive to a number of factors that affect our operations and resulting net earnings. The following table sets out the impact of changes in some key variables on our earnings based on activity levels for the year ended December 31, 2014.

SENSITIVITIES ON 2014 SALES OR MARGINS

 

Retail and Wholesale sensitivity impact to EBIT, net earnings and net earnings per diluted share  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted) Change in factor   EBIT impact   Net earnings
impact
(f)
  Net earnings
per diluted
share impact 
(f)
 

Retail (a)

Crop nutrients

  1.00   52      38      0.26   

Crop protection products

  1.00   46      34      0.23   

Seed

  1.00   15      11      0.08   

Merchandise

  1.00   9      7      0.05   

Wholesale (b)

Nitrogen (c)(d)

$ 10.00      33      24      0.17   

Potash (c)(e)

$ 10.00      11      8      0.06   

Phosphate (c)

$ 10.00      13      9      0.07   

Product purchased for resale (a)

  1.00   9      7      0.05   

Exchange rate from CAD to USD

$ 0.01      4      3      0.02   
(a) Change in factor is gross profit as a percentage of sales.
(b) Wholesale’s sensitivity to a $0.50/MMBtu change in natural gas prices is $41-million in EBIT and $30-million in net earnings. The sensitivity assumes no change to the price spread between U.S. and Alberta natural gas and excludes the impact of natural gas derivatives and industrial ammonia sales, which are on a gas index-plus margin basis.
(c) Change in factor is margin per metric tonne of North American Wholesale produced sales.
(d) Excludes the impact of natural gas sensitivity described in footnote (b) above.
(e) Excludes the impact of potash production tax and resource surcharge.
(f) Based on a tax rate of 27 percent and 144 million weighted average outstanding shares.

MARGINS

RETAIL

Retail product margins are normally more stable than Wholesale margins as Retail tends to be more of a cost-plus margin business than Wholesale. However, several factors can influence Retail margins. For example, nutrient margins are impacted by price volatility between the time we purchase the product and the time we sell the product to the grower, as well as price volatility driven by the relative timing of our competitors’ nutrient purchases relative to our purchases. Fluctuations in commodity prices affect the types of crops planted, resulting in different crop input needs and, more significantly, affecting the timing of growers’ decisions on the application levels and rates of our products. Lower crop commodity prices relative to the price of the inputs may result in growers delaying purchase and application of crop inputs that would otherwise optimize crop yields. Weather conditions can create significant fluctuations in the timing of Retail’s sales and the related margins based on the ability to plant or harvest and the associated application of inputs. Finally, crop protection and seed margins are influenced by changes in the value of chemicals and newer seed varieties from our suppliers as well as shortages or oversupply of different products.

 

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WHOLESALE

Nitrogen cost of product sold is affected by changes in North American natural gas prices, and nitrogen prices are impacted by changes in global nitrogen supply and demand. The combination of these market fluctuations impacts nitrogen production margins. Fluctuations in the cost of raw material inputs such as phosphate rock, sulfur and ammonia affect our phosphate margins. Foreign trade policies, the existence and activities of marketing agencies, and buying strategy affect global supply and demand, which also influences potash pricing and margins. Wholesale’s purchase for resale margins are impacted by price volatility of a crop nutrient between the time we purchase the product and the time we sell the product to the customer.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

The international currency of the agribusiness industry is the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, we use the U.S. dollar as our reporting currency. We conduct business primarily in U.S. and Canadian dollars. We also have some exposure to the Argentine peso, Australian dollar and euro. Fluctuations in these currencies can also impact our financial results.

SELECTED RETAIL AND CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL MEASURES

 

Performance ratios                        
   2014   2013  
(in percentages) Retail –
North
America
  Retail  

Consolidated

Agrium

  Retail –
North
America
  Retail   Consolidated
Agrium
 

Average non-cash working capital to sales (a)

  N/A      17      14      N/A      20      17   

Operating coverage ratio

  N/A      72      67      N/A      71      57   

Cash operating coverage ratio

  N/A      61      55      N/A      62      47   

EBITDA to sales

  9      9      11      12      8      13   

Return on capital employed (b)

  10      10      7      14      9      11   

Return on operating capital employed (b)

  20      18      10      28      17      15   

(a) Retail – North America average non-cash working capital to sales not disclosed on a geographic basis.

(b) Tax rate of 27 percent (2013 – 27 percent).

 

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CONSOLIDATED PERFORMANCE

 

Selected annual information               
(millions of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts) 2014   2013   2012  

Sales

  16,042      15,727      16,024   

Cost of product sold

  12,490      11,954      11,716   

Gross profit

  3,552      3,773      4,308   

Expenses

Selling

  2,048      1,876      1,697   

General and administrative

  349      329      428   

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

  (23   (68   (91

Purchase gain

       (257     

Goodwill impairment

       220        

Other expenses

  18      43      58   

Earnings before finance costs and income taxes

  1,160      1,630      2,216   

Finance costs related to long-term debt

  62      90      89   

Other finance costs

  70      66      41   

Earnings before income taxes

  1,028      1,474      2,086   

Income taxes

  230      394      570   

Net earnings from continuing operations

  798      1,080      1,516   

Net loss from discontinued operations

  (78   (17   (18

Net earnings

  720      1,063      1,498   

Attributable to:

Equity holders of Agrium

  714      1,062      1,494   

Non-controlling interest

  6      1      4   

Net earnings

  720      1,063      1,498   

Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of Agrium

Basic earnings per share from continuing operations

  5.51      7.31      9.67   

Basic loss per share from discontinued operations

  (0.54   (0.11   (0.11

Basic earnings per share

  4.97      7.20      9.56   

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations

  5.51      7.31      9.67   

Diluted loss per share from discontinued operations

  (0.54   (0.11   (0.12

Diluted earnings per share

  4.97      7.20      9.55   

Total assets

  17,108      15,977      15,805   

Non-current financial liabilities

Long-term debt

  3,559      3,066      2,069   

Other financial liabilities

  17      24      36   

Derivative financial liabilities

  22             

Total non-current financial liabilities

  3,598      3,090      2,105   

Dividends declared

  435      367      154   

Dividends declared per share

  3.03      2.50      1.00   

 

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SALES

Viterra’s results contributed significantly to the 2 percent increase in Agrium’s consolidated sales of $16.0-billion in 2014 compared to $15.7-billion in 2013. Viterra contributed $1.7-billion in sales in 2014. The increase was partially offset by lower Wholesale sales due to lower realized selling prices on all product lines and lower sales volumes from an extended outage to complete the tie-in at our Vanscoy potash facility and outage at our Redwater nitrogen facility. Overall, Wholesale sales decreased by 14 percent.

From 2012 to 2013, consolidated sales decreased 2 percent to $15.7-billion due to lower Wholesale sales attributed to weaker market pricing across all commodities. Overall, Wholesale sales decreased by 9 percent. However, this was partially offset by a Retail sales increase of 4 percent resulting from favorable weather conditions, which increased sales of fungicides, growth regulators, and herbicides. The acquisition of Viterra also contributed $276-million in additional sales in 2013.

GROSS PROFIT

Retail’s gross profit increased by $277-million in 2014 due to inclusion of Viterra’s gross profit of $268-million, higher seed sales volume, and an increase in crop nutrients sales.

Wholesale’s gross profit decreased by $487-million in 2014 as a result of lower realized selling prices for all product lines, higher nitrogen input costs from higher average natural gas prices, and higher fixed costs recorded directly to cost of product sold coupled with lower potash and nitrogen volumes sold due to an extended outage to complete the tie-in at our Vanscoy potash facility and outages at our Redwater and Fort Saskatchewan nitrogen facilities.

Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2013 was $3.8-billion – a $535-million decrease from 2012. The decrease was primarily due to Wholesale’s gross profit decrease of $608-million as a result of lower realized sales prices for nitrogen and phosphate due to weaker market conditions, higher nitrogen input costs from higher natural gas prices, and lower potash margins stemming from uncertainty in the potash market after the break-up of BPC. These were partially offset by a Retail gross profit increase of $137-million as a result of increased crop protection and seed sales and the impact of a full year of earnings from acquisitions made in the second half of 2012.

SELLING EXPENSES

Virtually all of our selling expenses were in our Retail business unit. Retail’s selling expense remained relatively consistent with prior year. On a total basis there was a nominal increase of selling expenses as a percentage of sales.

GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

 

General and administrative expenses breakdown          
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Share-based payments (recoveries)

  50      (7

Depreciation and amortization

  30      45   

Cash general and administrative

  269      291   
    349      329   

General and administrative expenses, excluding share-based payments expenses, decreased by $37-million due to reductions in depreciation, payroll and outside services expenses during the year. Share-based payments expenses increased by $57-million resulting from an improvement in our share performance relative to our peers and an increase in our share price in 2014 compared to share price declines in 2013.

 

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Table of Contents
                                                               
Depreciation and amortization                    
(millions of U.S. dollars) Retail   Wholesale   Other   Total  

2014

Cost of product sold

  6      223           229   

Selling

  291                291   

General and administrative

  8      7      15      30   
    305      230      15      550   

2013

Cost of product sold

  5      200           205   

Selling

  222                222   

General and administrative

  11      17      17      45   
    238      217      17      472   

Depreciation and amortization included in selling expenses was $291-million in 2014 compared to $222-million in 2013. The full amount of the increase is attributed to the Retail business unit, as Retail had a greater depreciable base as a result of recent acquisitions including Viterra. Wholesale depreciation and amortization included in general and administrative decreased by $10-million, reflecting accelerated depreciation in 2013 at our Kapuskasing mine coinciding with its closure.

EARNINGS FROM ASSOCIATES AND JOINT VENTURES

Earnings from associates and joint ventures were $23-million and $68-million in 2014 and 2013, respectively. Our earnings from associates and joint ventures decreased this year due to scheduled and unscheduled plant outages at the Profertil facility leading to higher costs and reduced sales. The MOPCO nitrogen facility faced increased gas supply interruptions during the year, resulting in reduced production and tonnes available for sale and increased costs per tonne.

PURCHASE GAIN

In 2013, we recorded a purchase gain of $257-million, representing the difference between the fair value of the acquired Viterra net assets and the related purchase price.

GOODWILL IMPAIRMENT

No goodwill impairment was recorded in 2014. In 2013, a $220-million goodwill impairment was recorded in our Retail – Australia business as a result of delayed synergy realization and reduced expectations for sales, gross margins and long-term growth.

OTHER EXPENSES

 

Other expenses breakdown          
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Net foreign exchange and derivatives (not designated as hedges) loss

  15      27   

Interest income

  (83   (76

Environmental remediation and asset retirement obligations

  24      7   

Bad debt expense

  19      9   

Potash profit and capital tax

  10      21   

Other

  33      55   
    18      43   

The decrease in net foreign exchange and derivatives (not designated as hedges) loss in 2014 compared to 2013 was primarily driven by gains from the derivative contracts to mitigate U.S. dollar denominated commercial paper, foreign cash positions and other balance sheet exposures, and fluctuations in the natural gas prices.

Environmental remediation and asset retirement obligations increased by $17-million due to additional provisions made for our Conda plant and mine sites in 2014.

Other expenses decreased by $22-million from 2013 to 2014 as a result of higher non-recurring expenses incurred in 2013 including proxy defense costs of $17-million and acquisition costs of $13-million related to Viterra.

 

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FINANCE COSTS

Finance costs in 2014 decreased by $24-million compared to 2013. The decrease was due to higher interest capitalized of $111-million for the construction of our Vanscoy potash and Borger nitrogen facilities compared to $61-million in 2013. We expect our capitalized interest to be lower in 2015 with the completion of the Vanscoy project in 2014.

INCOME TAXES

Our overall effective tax rate was 22 percent in 2014 compared to 27 percent for 2013. Excluding the recognition of one-time previously unrecognized tax assets of $36-million, the effective tax rate for 2014 would have been 26 percent.

Changes in statutory income tax rates, the mix of earnings, tax allowances and realization of unrecognized tax assets among the jurisdictions in which we operate can impact our overall effective tax rate. Further details of the year-over-year variances in these rates for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, are provided in note 6 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

NET EARNINGS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS

Overall, the net earnings from our continuing operations in 2014 decreased by $282-million due to lower realized selling prices across our product lines and lower sales volumes due to an extended outage to complete the tie-in at our Vanscoy potash facility and outages at our Redwater and Fort Saskatchewan nitrogen facilities.

In 2013, the earnings from our continuing operations decreased by $436-million compared to 2012. Although our total general and administrative and other expenses decreased by $114-million, our gross margin was affected by the weaker market conditions and higher natural gas prices that affected our total net earnings for the year.

NET LOSS FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

In 2013, Agrium’s Board of Directors approved the transition of the Turf and Ornamental business to be held for sale. During 2014, Agrium completed the sale of the Turf and Ornamental business for $94-million. We reduced the value of assets held for sale to fair value less costs of disposal. Refer to note 3 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further details.

ASSETS

See the discussion in the section “Financial Condition” on page 56 for detailed analysis of 2013 to 2014.

Total assets increased by 1 percent from 2012 to 2013. Agrium consolidated the assets of the acquired Viterra operations in 2013 net of the settlement of the advance made to Glencore International plc (“Glencore”) in the fourth quarter of 2012.

NON-CURRENT FINANCIAL LIABILITIES

See the discussion in the section “Financial Condition” on page 57 and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” under cash (used in) provided by financing activities on page 59 for detailed analysis of 2013 to 2014.

In 2013, we had issuances of $500-million of 3.5 percent debentures due June 2023 and $500-million of 4.9 percent debentures due June 2043, increasing the total non-current financial liabilities balance compared to 2012.

DIVIDENDS DECLARED

From 2012 to 2014, a series of dividend increases were approved by the Board of Directors, as follows:

Dividend breakdown

Effective date

Dividends declared

per share

  Frequency  

Dividends declared

per share on an

annualized basis

 

June 7, 2012

$ 0.50      Semi-annually    $ 1.00   

December 14, 2012

$ 0.50      Quarterly    $ 2.00   

September 23, 2013

$ 0.75      Quarterly    $ 3.00   

November 3, 2014

$ 0.78      Quarterly    $ 3.12   

We declared dividends on our common shares of $435-million in 2014 and $367-million in 2013. Common share dividends paid were $430-million in 2014 and $334-million in 2013.

 

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QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The agricultural products business is seasonal in nature. Consequently, comparisons made on a year-over-year basis are more appropriate than quarter-over-quarter comparisons. Crop input sales are primarily concentrated in the spring and fall crop input application seasons. Crop nutrient inventories are normally accumulated leading up to each application season. Our cash collections generally occur after the application season is complete.

 

Selected quarterly information          
  2014   2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts) Q4   Q3   Q2   Q1   Q4   Q3   Q2   Q1  

Sales

  2,705      2,920      7,338      3,079      2,867      2,796      6,908      3,156   

Cost of product sold

  1,973      2,255      5,739      2,523      2,127      2,167      5,209      2,451   

Gross profit

  732      665      1,599      556      740      629      1,699      705   

Expenses

Selling

  515      480      609      444      511      423      546      396   

General and administrative

  103      80      66      100      116      57      62      94   

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

  (2   (7   (13   (1   (29   (11   (15   (13

Purchase gain

                      (257               

Goodwill impairment

                      220                  

Other expenses (income)

  9      7      42      (40   (4   16      42      (11

Earnings before finance costs and income taxes

  107      105      895      53      183      144      1,064      239   

Total finance costs

  40      29      27      36      39      35      42      40   

Income taxes

  (3   (15   243      5      34      29      278      53   

Net earnings from continuing operations

  70      91      625      12      110      80      744      146   

Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations

  (19   (41   (9   (9   (11   (4   3      (5

Net earnings

  51      50      616      3      99      76      747      141   

Attributable to:

Equity holders of Agrium

  47      50      615      2      96      76      749      141   

Non-controlling interest

  4           1      1      3           (2     

Earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to equity holders of Agrium:

Basic and diluted

  0.46      0.63      4.34      0.08      0.74      0.54      5.00      0.98   

Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of Agrium:

Basic and diluted

  0.33      0.35      4.28      0.02      0.66      0.52      5.02      0.94   

EBITDA

  245      248      1,037      180      314      250      1,191      347   

Adjusted EBITDA

  253      261      1,048      186      338      263      1,199      356   

Dividends declared

  112      107      108      108      108      110      74      75   

Dividends declared per share

  0.78      0.75      0.75      0.75      0.75      0.75      0.50      0.50   

 

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Significant items affecting the comparability of quarterly results include the following:

2014

 

  We had record sales for a second quarter coming from strong results of the acquired Viterra Agri-products operations and improvement in our international operations; and

 

  Our share-based payments expenses or recoveries in 2014 fluctuated based on changes in our share price and our performance relative to our peers. Our share-based payments expenses in the first, third and fourth quarters were $31-million, $10-million and $25-million respectively compared to a recovery of $16-million in the second quarter.

2013

 

  We had higher sales for the second quarter coming from a more normal seasonal crop input demand compared to the second quarter of 2012, when the early spring season shifted sales typically earned in the second quarter to the first quarter of 2012;

 

  During the fourth quarter, the Turf and Ornamental and Direct Solutions businesses of the AAT business unit were reported within discontinued operations;

 

  Also included in the fourth quarter was a purchase gain of $257-million related to the Viterra acquisition (see page 52 for further information);

 

  Additionally, goodwill impairment of $220-million occurred in the fourth quarter in relation to delayed synergy realized and reduced expectations for sales, gross margins and long-term growth in Retail – Australia (see page 52 for further information); and

 

  Our share-based payments expenses for the first and fourth quarters were $16-million and $28-million respectively compared to recoveries of $30-million and $21-million respectively in the second and third quarters. Our share-based payments expenses or recoveries fluctuated based on changes in our share price and our performance relative to our peers.

 

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FINANCIAL CONDITION

The following are changes to the financial condition of our consolidated balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2014.

 

Detailed balance sheet analysis                       
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted)

 

December 31,
2014

  December 31,
2013
  $ Change   % Change   Explanation of the change in balance

Assets

Cash and cash equivalents

  848      801      47      6 See discussion in the section “Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

Accounts receivable

  2,075      2,105      (30   (1 %) 

Income taxes receivable

  138      78      60      77 Increase was due to expected refunds in Canada and the U.S. as a result of tax installments paid in excess of taxes payable.

Inventories

  3,505      3,413      92      3 Increase in inventories was due to lower sales of crop nutrients and crop protection related to an early start of winter across most of North America.

Prepaid expenses and deposits

  710      805      (95   (12 %)  Pre-purchased seed inventory in North America decreased due to a preference to take receipt of inventory in 2014 versus prepaying prior to receipt in 2013.

Other current assets

  122      104      18      17

Assets held for sale

       202      (202   (100 %)  The sale of the Turf and Ornamental business was completed in July 2014.

Property, plant and equipment

  6,272      4,960      1,312      26 Wholesale additions increased by approximately $1.3-billion due to spending related to the Vanscoy potash expansion project and approximately $350-million due to the Borger nitrogen expansion project. These increases were partially offset by foreign exchange translation.

Intangibles

  695      738      (43   (6 %) 

Goodwill

  2,014      1,958      56      3 Increase in goodwill was due to the growth of our Retail business unit from its acquisitions and tuck-ins.

Investments in associates and joint ventures

  576      639      (63   (10 %)  Decrease was due to a change in ownership over Agricen, previously treated as an associate in 2013 and now as a subsidiary in 2014, coupled with dividend declarations of our associates.

Other assets

  78      99      (21   (21 %)  Decrease was due to our disposition of other non-financial assets during the year.

Deferred income tax assets

  75      75             

Total assets

  17,108      15,977      1,131      7  

 

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Detailed balance sheet analysis                       
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted)

 

December 31,
2014

  December 31,
2013
  $ Change   % Change   Explanation of the change in balance

Liabilities

Short-term debt

  1,527      764      763      100 The increase in short-term borrowings was due to an increase in our working capital and capital expenditure requirements.

Accounts payable

  4,197      3,985      212      5 Customer prepayments increased by $85-million and trade payables increased by $52-million due to a growth of our Retail business from tuck-ins and acquisitions. Accrued liabilities increased by $83-million due to additional accruals relating to our Borger nitrogen expansion project.

Income taxes payable

  5      2      3      150

Liabilities held for sale

       44      (44   (100 %)  The sale of the Turf and Ornamental business was completed in July 2014.

Long-term debt

  3,570      3,124      446      14 Long-term debt increased due to the $500-million debentures that were issued in the fourth quarter of 2014 to reduce short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

Post-employment benefits

  151      135      16      12

Other provisions

  480      538      (58   (11 %)  Decrease is primarily due to updated cash flow projections in our phosphate asset retirement obligations.

Other liabilities

  69      59      10      17

Deferred income tax liabilities

  422      530      (108   (20 %)  Decrease is due to a recognition of previously unrecognized tax assets, temporary differences in respect to depreciation and amortization, and the foreign exchange translation of deferred taxes.

Total liabilities

  10,421      9,181      1,240      14

Shareholders’ equity

  6,687      6,796      (109   (2 %)   

WORKING CAPITAL

Our working capital from continuing operations, defined as current assets excluding current assets held for sale less current liabilities excluding current liabilities held for sale, at December 31, 2014 was $1.5-billion – a decrease of $840-million over December 31, 2013. See the discussion of current assets in the section “Financial Condition” on page 56 for more information on the drivers of this change in working capital from continuing operations.

 

Working capital breakdown          
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Current assets excluding current assets held for sale

  7,398      7,306   

Current liabilities excluding current liabilities held for sale

  5,853      4,921   

Working capital from continuing operations

  1,545      2,385   

SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Shareholders’ equity was $6.7-billion at December 31, 2014 – a decrease of $109-million compared to December 31, 2013. This was driven by a net increase in retained earnings of $249-million at December 31, 2014, compared to December 31, 2013, which represents the 2014 net earnings attributable to equity holders of Agrium partially offset by dividends declared of $435-million. Shareholders’ equity was also reduced by a $341-million foreign currency translation loss in accumulated other comprehensive loss due to the decline in the exchange rates of the Canadian and Australian dollars relative to the U.S. dollar.

 

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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Our liquidity and capital resources needs can be met through a variety of sources, including cash on hand, cash provided by operations and short-term borrowings from the issuance of commercial paper, and borrowings from our credit facilities as well as long-term debt and equity capacity from the capital markets. Depending on the nature, timing and extent of any potential acquisitions or greenfield and brownfield development opportunities, we may consider expanding existing sources of financing or accessing other sources of financing.

Sources and uses of cash

(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Cash provided by operating activities

  1,312      1,767   

Cash used in investing activities

  (2,068   (681

Cash provided by (used in) financing activities

  856      (867

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

  (35   (24

Increase in cash and cash equivalents from continuing operations

  65      195   

Cash and cash equivalents used in discontinued operations

  (18   (52

CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Cash provided by operating activities comprises net earnings from continuing operations adjusted for items not affecting cash, interest received, interest paid, income taxes paid, dividends from associates and joint ventures and net changes in non-cash working capital.

Net earnings from continuing operations adjusted for items not affecting cash was a source of cash of $1.7-billion in 2014 and $1.9-billion in 2013. Material non-cash items include depreciation and amortization, finance costs and income taxes. Income taxes decreased by approximately $164-million from $394-million in 2013 to $230-million in 2014 consistent with lower earnings and the recognition of previously unrecognized tax assets. In 2013, there were significant non-cash transactions including goodwill impairment of $220-million offset by the purchase gain of $257-million with no comparable transactions for 2014.

Our non-cash working capital levels are affected by numerous factors including demand for our products and services, together with pre-sales of product and inventory build leading up to the spring and fall crop input application seasons; selling prices of our products and services; raw material input and other costs; and foreign exchange rates.

Cash flows from operating activities decreased primarily due to the variation in net changes in non-cash working capital comprised of a use of cash of $95-million in 2014 compared to cash inflows of $536-million in 2013. This change resulted from a larger increase in accounts payable in 2013 driven by increased purchases resulting from growth in the business from our tuck-in strategy. 2014 payable balances stayed consistent with prior year. Accounts receivable saw greater collections in 2013 reflecting higher sales. In 2014, there was a larger increase in inventory related to higher inventory balances at year end because of early winter resulting in lower than anticipated sales.

For further discussion of working capital balance sheet account changes from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2014, see the section “Financial Condition” on page 56.

CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Investing activities used $2.1-billion of cash in 2014 – an increase of $1.4-billion compared to 2013. This is primarily the result of $1.3-billion of cash received in 2013 from Glencore on the 2012 advance for the Viterra acquisition coupled with greater capital expenditures in 2014 on the Vanscoy potash and Borger nitrogen facilities.

BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS

In 2014 and 2013, we completed various acquisitions of smaller, independent retail operations for total cash consideration of $179-million and $64-million respectively.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES

Capital expenditures breakdown

(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Sustaining capital

  566      591   

Investing capital

  1,455      1,164   

Total

  2,021      1,755   

 

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CAPITAL EXPENDITURES BY BUSINESS UNIT

Capital expenditures by business unit

(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013**   2012  

Retail

  199      198      186   

Wholesale

  1,808      1,538      991   

Other *

  14      19      48   

Total

  2,021      1,755      1,225   
* 2012 include AAT capital expenditures. Starting December 2013, the agri-business of AAT was transitioned to Wholesale and the remaining businesses were reported in discontinued operations.
** 2013 balances were restated to reflect the transition of agri-business of AAT to Wholesale.

Sustaining capital includes the cost of replacements and betterments of our facilities. Retail’s sustaining capital expenditures in 2014 were $158-million (2013 – $166-million).

Investing capital typically includes a significant expansion of existing operations or new acquisitions. Our investing capital expenditures increased from 2013 to 2014 due to expenditures related to the Vanscoy potash and Borger nitrogen facility expansion projects.

CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Financing activities provided $856-million of cash in 2014 – a change of $1.7-billion compared to 2013, when financing activities used $867-million of cash. This is primarily the result of short-term debt issued in 2014 versus repaid in 2013 coupled with cash paid in 2013 related to shares repurchased under the normal course issuer bid that expired in 2014.

 

LOGO

SHORT-TERM DEBT

Cash provided by short-term debt in 2014 was $845-million compared to cash used in the repayment of short-term debt of $511-million in 2013. The 2014 cash provided by short-term debt comprised $614-million from our commercial paper facility and $231-million from our credit facilities. In 2013, we repaid the short-term debt related to the multi-jurisdictional facility drawn upon for the 2012 advance of funds to Glencore.

LONG-TERM DEBT

On November 13, 2014, we issued $500-million of 5.25 percent debentures due January 15, 2045 to be used for short-term debt repayments and for general corporate purposes.

On May 28, 2013, we issued $500-million of 3.5 percent debentures due June 1, 2023, and $500-million of 4.9 percent debentures due June 1, 2043.

The debentures were issued under our 2014 and 2012 base shelf prospectuses, respectively. The 2014 base shelf prospectus permits issuance in Canada and the U.S. of common shares, debt and other securities up to $2.5-billion, less the offering price of securities issued between the 2014 filing date of the prospectus and May 2016. Issuance of further securities under the base shelf prospectus requires filing a prospectus supplement and is subject to the availability of funding in capital markets. The 2014 base shelf prospectus has a remaining capacity of up to an additional $1.5-billion.

In 2013, we repaid a $460-million floating rate bank loan.

DIVIDENDS

See the discussion in the section “Consolidated Performance” on page 53 for information about our dividends.

NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID

In January 2015, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) accepted our Notice of Intention to make a Normal Course Issuer Bid (the “Bid”). We proposed to purchase up to 7,185,866 common shares, being 5 percent of our 143,717,326 issued and outstanding shares as of January 19, 2015. Share repurchases are authorized from January 26, 2015 to

 

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January 25, 2016 or earlier until such time the Bid is completed or terminated. All shares purchased under the Bid will be cancelled. Security holders of Agrium may obtain a copy of the Notice of Intention without charge by contacting the Corporate Secretary of Agrium at 13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E., Calgary, AB T2J 7E8 or by phone at (403) 225-7000.

We did not purchase any shares in 2014. During 2013, we purchased approximately 5,770,182 shares for total consideration of approximately $498-million pursuant to the normal course issuer bid that expired in 2014.

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS USED IN DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

Cash and cash equivalents used in discontinued operations were $18-million in 2014 and $52-million in 2013. For further discussion on discontinued operations, see the section “Net loss from discontinued operations” under “Consolidated Performance” on page 53.

CASH POSITION

Our year end cash balance was $848-million in 2014 and $801-million in 2013. We do not hold material cash balances in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar. We do not depend on repatriation of cash from our foreign subsidiaries to meet our liquidity and capital resources needs.

DEBT INSTRUMENTS, CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND RATINGS

DEBT INSTRUMENTS

Short-term debt consists mainly of U.S. dollar-denominated commercial paper (“CP”) issued in Canada and the U.S. as well as various bank lines of credit for our operations in Europe, South America and Australia. We utilize a $2.5-billion multi-jurisdictional facility of which $2.45-billion is allocated to North America and $50-million is available to Australia. At December 31, 2014, we had $250-million drawn on our North American tranche at a rate of 1.61 percent. Australian tranche draws were less than $1-million. We also had $1.1-billion of CP outstanding at December 31, 2014, at a weighted average interest rate of 0.47 percent. Amounts borrowed under the CP program reduce our borrowing capacity under the multi-jurisdictional facility. For our international operations, we had credit facilities of approximately $389-million of which $160-million was outstanding at December 31, 2014, including $109-million in Europe and $51-million in South America.

Refer to note 15 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on our short-term debt and long-term debt.

 

LOGO

 

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CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Refer to note 24 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on our capital management policies.

Multi-jurisdictional facility covenants

   Limit   2014  

Interest coverage ratio (a)

³ 2.5      13.0   

Debt-to-capital ratio (b)

£  0.65      0.40   
(a) Calculated as the last 12 months’ EBITDA divided by interest, which includes interest on long-term debt plus other interest.
(b) Calculated as total debt divided by the sum of total debt and total equity. For purposes of this ratio, total debt is defined as the sum of short-term debt, long-term debt, guarantees and letters of credit, net of cash and cash equivalents.

These covenants were met as at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

DEBT RATINGS

The following information relating to Agrium’s credit ratings is provided as it relates to our financing costs, liquidity and operations. Specifically, credit ratings affect Agrium’s ability to obtain short-term and long-term financing and the cost of such financing. A reduction in the current rating on our debt by the rating agencies, particularly a downgrade below investment grade, or a negative change in the outlook for the Company could adversely affect Agrium’s cost of financing and our access to sources of liquidity and capital.

Debt ratings breakdown

Rating agency Date of
affirmation
  Long-term
debt rating
  USD commercial
paper
  Ratings
outlook
 

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services

  May 20, 2014      BBB      A-2      Stable   

Moody’s Investors Service

  May 20, 2014      Baa2      P-2      Stable   

Refer to our 2014 AIF in the section “Item 7 – Description of Capital Structure – 7.3 Debt Ratings” for further information on our ratings, including ratings definitions.

FUTURE CASH REQUIREMENTS

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND OTHER COMMITMENTS

At December 31, 2014, our aggregate contractual obligations for continuing operations are set out in the table below.

Contractual and other obligations

   Payment due by period  
(millions of U.S. dollars) Less than one year   One to three years   Four to five years   More than five years   Total  

Operating

Long-term debt – interest

  189      371      330      2,398      3,288   

Operating leases

  281      241      121      64      707   

Purchase obligations

  656      666      192      359      1,873   

Total operating obligations

  1,126      1,278      643      2,821      5,868   

Capital

Long-term debt – principal repayments

       100      512      2,965      3,577   

Asset retirement obligations (a)

  14      17      7      249 (c)    287   

Environmental remediation liabilities (b)

  59      40      25      47      171   

Total capital obligations

  73      157      544      3,261      4,035   

Total

  1,199      1,435      1,187      6,082      9,903   
(a) Represents the undiscounted, inflation-adjusted estimated cash outflows.
(b) Represents the undiscounted, estimated cash flows.
(c) This figure does not include estimated asset retirement obligations related to our potash operations. See the following discussion in the section “Asset retirement obligations”.

 

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Long-term debt

Failure to maintain certain financial ratios in respect of our credit facilities and other covenants in the various debt instruments may trigger early repayment provisions. See the discussion in the section “Debt Instruments, Capital Management and Ratings” on page 60.

Operating leases

Operating lease commitments consist primarily of leases for railcars and contractual commitments at distribution facilities in our Wholesale business unit, vehicles and application equipment in our Retail business unit, and office equipment and property leases throughout our operations. The commitments represent the minimum payments under each agreement.

Purchase obligations

Purchase obligations include minimum commitments for North American natural gas purchases, which include both floating rate and fixed rate contracts, and are calculated using the prevailing NYMEX forward prices for U.S. facilities and AECO forward prices for Canadian facilities at December 31, 2014.

Profertil has three long-term gas contracts denominated in U.S. dollars, expiring in 2017. These contracts account for approximately 76 percent of Profertil’s gas requirements. YPF S.A. (“YPF”), our joint venture partner in Profertil, supplies approximately 24 percent of the gas under these contracts.

We have a power co-generation agreement for our Carseland facility that expires on December 31, 2026. The maximum commitment under this agreement is to purchase 60 megawatt-hours of power per hour through 2026. The price for the power is based on a fixed charge adjusted for inflation and a variable charge based on the cost of natural gas, which is provided to the facility for power generation.

Our phosphate rock supply agreement extends to 2020. Our minimum commitment is to purchase 800,000 tonnes in 2015 and 798,000 tonnes from 2016 to 2018, with any potential subsequent volumes to be determined in 2016. The purchase price is based on a formula that tracks finished product pricing and key published phosphate input costs. We entered into a freight contract to import phosphate rock extending to 2018, with a total outstanding commitment of $126-million at December 31, 2014.

In addition to amounts disclosed in the preceding table, future capital expenditures include approximately: (i) potash facility ramp up project – $300-million to $400-million and (ii) Borger, Texas nitrogen expansion project – $265-million.

Asset retirement obligations

Our mining, extraction, processing and distribution activities result in asset retirement obligations, which are part of our normal course of operations. Such retirement obligations include closure, dismantlement, site restoration or other legal or constructive obligations for termination and retirement of assets. Expenditures may occur before and after closure. We expect to incur expenditures for obligations over the next 40 years, with the exception of those for potash operations, which are expected to occur after 100 years. The timing of retirement expenditures is dependent on a number of factors such as the life and nature of the asset, legal requirements and technology. The discounted, inflation-adjusted estimated cash outflows required to settle the asset retirement obligations is $271-million at December 31, 2014.

Environmental remediation liabilities

We establish provisions for environmental expenditures that relate to existing conditions caused by past operations that do not contribute to current or future revenue generation. We capitalize environmental expenditures that extend the life of the property, increase its capacity, or mitigate or prevent contamination from future operations. The discounted, inflation-adjusted estimated cash outflows required to settle the environmental remediation liabilities is $169-million at December 31, 2014.

 

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FUTURE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES

SUSTAINING CAPITAL

In 2015, our sustaining capital is expected to be approximately $500-million to $550-million for a number of large projects planned for the year. The 2015 sustaining capital program includes the following:

 

Reliability projects for Wholesale manufacturing facilities;
Wholesale resource development projects;
Risk management and risk reduction projects;
Planned turnaround inspection and overhaul at certain Wholesale facilities; and
Spending at our Retail operations in North and South America and Australia.

INVESTING CAPITAL

Our investing capital program planned for 2015 is expected to be approximately $700-million to $750-million and includes the following:

 

Further expenditures related to the Vanscoy potash expansion project to facilitate the ramp-up of annual production capacity by one million tonnes;
Debottlenecking of the Borger ammonia facility and brownfield urea expansion; and
Retail investments in growth and efficiency opportunities.

We anticipate that we will be able to finance the announced projects through a combination of cash provided from operating activities, existing lines of credit (see the discussion in the section “Debt Instruments, Capital Management and Ratings” on page 60 for further details) and funds available from new debt or equity securities offerings.

BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS

During 2014, the Retail business unit completed the acquisition of various businesses for total consideration of $179-million.

In October 2013, we completed the Viterra acquisition. The acquired assets form part of our Retail business unit and include over 200 farm centers in Canada as well as distribution assets in Australia. Retail also completed acquisitions of other various businesses for a total consideration of $64-million.

Refer to note 2 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on our business acquisitions.

OUTSTANDING SHARE DATA

The number and principal amount of our outstanding shares at February 20, 2015, were as follows:

Outstanding shares at February 20, 2015

   Number of shares   Market value  

Common shares

  144 million    $ 16-billion   

At February 20, 2015, the number of stock options outstanding (issuable assuming full conversion, where each option granted can be exercised for one common share) was approximately nil.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

GUARANTEES

We are contractually obligated to reimburse Canpotex – an industry association of which we are a one-third owner – for our approximately 8 percent pro-rata share of any operating losses or other liabilities incurred. We believe that the probability of conditions arising that would trigger this guarantee is remote. Reimbursements, if any, are made from reductions of our cash receipts from Canpotex.

 

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FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

RISK MANAGEMENT

In the normal course of business, our balance sheet, results of operations and cash flows are exposed to various risks. Annually, the Board approves a strategic plan that takes into account the opportunities and major risks of our business and mitigating factors to reduce these risks. The Board sets upper limits on the amounts and time periods over which management may manage risk using derivative financial instruments. Our Corporate Financial Risk Committee reviews risk management policies and procedures annually and monitors compliance with these limits and associated exposure management activity. We manage risk in accordance with our Global Exposure Management Policy. The objective of the policy is to reduce volatility in cash flows and earnings.

Our derivative financial instruments and the nature of the risks to which they are, or may be, subject are set out in the following table:

Derivative financial instruments

   Risks  
   Currency   Commodity price   Credit   Liquidity  

Foreign currency forward, swap and option contracts

  X      X      X   

Natural gas forward, swap and option contracts, nutrient swap contracts and power swap contracts

        X      X      X   

Refer to note 21 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on our financial instruments.

ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT

WE MANAGE RISKS TO OUR ENTERPRISE

In the normal course of operations, our business activities expose us to risk. The acceptance of certain risks is both necessary and advantageous in order to achieve our growth targets and our vision. We focus on long-term results and manage related risks and uncertainties. Our risk management structure strives to ensure sound business decisions balance risk and reward and drive the maximum shareholder return.

RISK METHODOLOGY

Through Agrium’s structured Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) process, senior management, business units and corporate functions seek to identify and manage risks facing our business. Once identified, risks and related mitigation strategies are evaluated, documented and reviewed on an “evergreen” basis, with a formal review and quarterly sign-off. Many of these risks cross business units and corporate functions. In these cases, the aggregate risk to Agrium is considered and an overall corporate risk is monitored and assessed. The senior leadership team develops additional mitigation strategies for implementation where residual risk is deemed unacceptably high. Residual risk represents the remaining risk after taking into account existing mitigation strategies.

The risks we identify are assigned to six categories: strategic, financial, operational, market, environmental and political.

RISK-RANKING MATRIX

Agrium uses a risk matrix to assess the potential impact of risks based on the expected frequency and consequence of risk events:

 

We assess consequence based on the potential aggregate impact of a risk event on three areas: (a) company reputation; (b) our financial health; and (c) the environment and the health and safety of our employees and external parties; and
Frequency represents how often a consequence related to a risk is expected to occur. It is akin to probability of loss from the risk.

 

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AGRIUM’S RISK MATRIX

 

LOGO

RISK GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

At Agrium, we believe that good risk management is critical to successful execution of strategy and that everyone on the Agrium team has a role to play in managing risk.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

Governs risk management directly and through its committees;
Responsible for understanding the material risks of the business and the related mitigation strategies and for taking reasonable steps to ensure that management has an effective risk management process in place; and
Individual committees of the Board oversee specific risks relevant to their areas of responsibility. For example, the Audit Committee monitors the risk management process for financial risks; the Environment, Health, Safety and Security Committee monitors the process for managing environmental, health, safety and security (“EHS&S”) risks; and the Compensation Committee assesses risks in compensation programs.

MANAGEMENT

 

Risks unique to our separate business units are managed by the presidents of those business units and their teams; and
Functional risks are managed by the corporate functional heads and their teams.

CHIEF RISK OFFICER

 

Agrium has an appointed Chief Risk Officer (“CRO”). Responsible for maintaining an effective ERM process, the CRO monitors current developments in risk management practices, drives improvements in Agrium’s risk management philosophy, program and policies, and champions development of a “best practice” risk management culture;
The CRO reports quarterly to the Board and senior management on all material risks, including new or increased risks resulting from changes in operations or external factors; and
The CRO also formally reports to the Board annually on the ERM process and material risks.

GOVERNANCE FUNCTIONS

 

Agrium maintains several risk governance functions that contribute to our overall control environment, including Internal Audit, Corporate EHS&S, Legal, and the Internal Control and Disclosure Compliance team.

 

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MATERIAL BUSINESS RISKS

The following is a discussion of certain material business risks facing Agrium. Further disclosure of material risks facing Agrium is provided in Agrium’s AIF for the year ended December 31, 2014.

PRODUCT PRICE AND MARGIN

Agrium’s operating results are dependent on product prices and margins, which are in turn dependent on demand for crop inputs. Demand for crop inputs can be affected by a number of factors, including weather conditions, outlook for crop nutrient prices and farming economics, governmental policies, access of our customers to credit and build-up of inventories in distribution channels.

The majority of our Wholesale nutrient business is a commodity business with little product differentiation. Product prices are largely affected by supply and demand conditions, input costs and product prices. Resulting margins can therefore be volatile.

Within our Wholesale business unit, we sell manufactured product as well as product we have purchased for resale. Both components of the business are subject to margin volatility.

Our Retail business unit experiences relatively stable margins, which provide stability to our annual cash flows and earnings. Nonetheless, during times of significant price volatility, margins can be affected to a certain degree by the above factors.

WEATHER

Anomalies in regional weather patterns can have a significant and unpredictable impact on the demand for our products and services. It may also impact prices. Our customers have limited windows of opportunity to complete required tasks at each stage of crop cultivation. Should adverse weather occur during these seasonal windows, we could face the possibility of reduced revenue in those seasons without the opportunity to recover until the following season. In addition, we face the significant risk of inventory carrying costs should our customers’ activities be curtailed during their normal seasons. We must manufacture product throughout the year to meet peak season demand and to react quickly to changes in expected weather patterns that affect demand.

UNPLANNED PLANT DOWNTIME

The results of our Wholesale business are dependent on the availability of our manufacturing facilities. Prolonged plant shutdown may result in a significant reduction in product available for sale, may affect the environment and/or the community, and may cause injury to an employee or a member of the public.

TRANSPORTATION

Reducing the delivered cost of product and ensuring reliability of product delivery to our customers are key success factors for our Wholesale marketing operations. Potential medium-term risks are the increased regulations and costs of transporting ammonia within North America given the safety concerns respecting transportation of this product.

BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS AND EXPANSIONS

There is a risk that recent or future acquisitions could fail to fully deliver the expected economic benefits, or we may experience integration challenges that could result in delays in achieving some or all of any anticipated synergies and require the allocation of additional resources to integrate the acquired businesses. Similarly, there is a risk that expansions of existing facilities or greenfield developments undertaken may have higher capital construction costs or be delayed or that such expansions may not generate the expected return on investment.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Long-term forecasts predict a tight labor market across many areas in which we operate due to changing demographics, including the general aging of the population. A tight labor market, including the associated risks of losing key individuals and difficulty attracting and retaining qualified personnel, is a risk to the business.

 

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RAW MATERIALS

Natural gas is the principal raw material used to manufacture nitrogen and is the single largest purchased raw material for our Wholesale operation. North American natural gas prices are subject to price volatility. An increase in the price of natural gas increases our nitrogen cost of production and may negatively impact nitrogen margins for our North American nitrogen sales. This is particularly important for our nitrogen facilities in Western Canada and Borger, Texas, where we purchase gas on the open market. Higher production costs may be partially or fully reflected in higher domestic and international product prices, but these conditions do not always prevail. In addition, the price for natural gas in North America can vary significantly compared to the price for natural gas in Europe and Asia. Significantly lower natural gas prices in Europe and/or Asia would give our competitors in Europe and Asia a competitive advantage, which could, in turn, decrease international and domestic product prices and reduce our margins.

The Profertil nitrogen facility faces risk concerning gas deliverability during the winter due to strains on gas distribution and residential demand in Argentina. The Argentine government has at times reduced the amount of gas available to industrial users in favor of residential users during the peak winter demand season. Profertil may also not be able to renew its long-term gas supply contracts at favorable rates or at all.

Mining has inherent risks. For phosphate, there are risks associated with the variability in the quality of phosphate rock that can impact cost and production volumes. For potash mining, there is a risk of incurring water intake or flooding as well as variability in quality that can impact cost and production volumes.

COUNTERPARTY

We face the risk of loss should a counterparty be unable to fulfill its obligations with respect to accounts receivable or other contracts, including derivative financial instruments.

CREDIT AND LIQUIDITY

Our business is dependent on access to operating credit lines to fund our ongoing operations. Should overall credit liquidity in the markets be limited, this could impact our ability to operate under normal conditions.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

A significant shift in the value of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar could impact the earnings of our Canadian operations, which earn revenues mainly in U.S. dollars and incur expenses mainly in Canadian dollars. The major impact would be to our Canadian potash and, to a lesser extent, phosphate operations on a per-unit cost of product basis as well as to our corporate overhead costs. Significant changes in the Canadian dollar can also have a direct impact on our Canadian effective income tax rate.

A significant shift in the value of the Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar could impact the reported earnings of our Australian operations, which earn revenues mainly in Australian dollars but report in U.S. dollars.

COUNTRY

We have significant operations in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. We also operate in a number of South American and European countries, have business investments in Egypt, and are dependent on phosphate rock from Morocco. International business exposes us to a number of risks, such as uncertain economic conditions in the countries in which we do business, abrupt changes in foreign government policies and regulations, restrictions on the right to convert and repatriate currency, political risks, and the possible interruption of raw material supply due to transportation issues or government-imposed restrictions. We do not engage in business activities in any country that is a state sponsor of terrorism.

Construction of two new trains at the MOPCO-operated nitrogen plant in Egypt was shut down in November 2011 due to civil unrest. Construction resumed in 2014. As Agrium holds a 26 percent interest in MOPCO, failure to complete the expansion could have an adverse effect on our profitability, financial condition and results of operations. There is also a risk to the MOPCO nitrogen facility on gas deliverability as gas may be diverted for power generation as Egypt is seeing a growing demand for power.

Following its nationalization by the Argentine government in 2012, YPF, as the other 50 percent owner of the Profertil nitrogen facility, may have different business and economic interests or policy objectives under government management than it did in the past, which may be inconsistent with our interests as a 50 percent owner of that facility and which could have an adverse effect on the profitability, financial condition and results of operations of the Profertil facility. The Argentine government has imposed currency controls and regulatory measures to limit the flow of U.S. dollars out of the country. We do not depend on repatriation of cash from our foreign subsidiaries to meet our liquidity and capital resource needs.

 

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LEGISLATIVE RISK

We are subject to legislation, regulation and government policies in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We cannot predict how these laws, regulations or policies or their interpretation, administration and enforcement will change over time, and it is possible that future changes could negatively impact our operations, markets or cost structure.

ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH, SAFETY AND SECURITY

We face EHS&S risks typical of those found throughout the agriculture, mining and chemical manufacturing sectors and the international fertilizer supply chain. These include the potential of physical injury to employees and contractors; possible environmental contamination and human exposure to chemical releases and accidents during manufacturing, mining, transportation, storage and use; and the security of our personnel, products, intellectual property and physical assets domestically and overseas from intentional acts of destruction, crime, violence, terrorism, and ethnic and international conflicts. In addition, there are risks of natural disasters and risks to health, including pandemic risk.

LITIGATION RISK

Agrium, like any other business, is subject to the risk of becoming involved in disputes and litigation. Any material or costly dispute or litigation could adversely impact our consolidated financial position and results of operations. See the discussion “Litigation” in the section “Contingent Liabilities” on page 69.

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

DISCLOSURE CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in our annual filings, interim filings (as these terms are defined in National Instrument 52-109, Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings) and other reports filed or submitted by us under provincial and territorial securities legislation is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the required time periods. Our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), after evaluating the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by the annual filings, being December 31, 2014, have concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective in providing reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by Agrium in its annual filings, interim filings or other reports filed or submitted by it under securities legislation is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the securities legislation, and (ii) accumulated and communicated to management, including the CEO and CFO, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and, as indicated in the preceding paragraph, the CEO and CFO believe that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective at that reasonable assurance level, although the CEO and CFO do not expect that the disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors or fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived or operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system will be met.

INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with IFRS.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our CEO and CFO, we conducted an evaluation of the design and effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this report based on the framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (1992). Based on this evaluation, the CEO and CFO concluded that as of December 31, 2014, we did maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. Commencing 2015, the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting will be assessed using the Internal Control-Integrated Framework 2013 issued by COSO.

On October 1, 2013, we completed the Viterra acquisition and in 2014 we completed the integration of our Viterra control environment into the Agrium control environment to ensure controls were operating effectively as at December 31, 2014. Other than the Viterra integration, there have been no changes to our internal controls over financial reporting during the year ended December 31, 2014 that had, or would have, a material impact over our control over financial reporting. Management used appropriate procedures to ensure internal controls were in place during and after implementation.

 

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The effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, was audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report, which is included in this 2014 Annual Report to Shareholders.

CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

LITIGATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

From time to time, we become involved in legal or administrative proceedings related to our current and acquired businesses. Such proceedings expose us to possible losses, and we expect our involvement in such matters to continue in the normal conduct of our business. We regularly assess the need for accounting recognition and/ or disclosure of these matters. Our assessment considers the probability of adverse judgments and the range of possible losses. We base our assessment of the probable outcome on our judgment of a number of factors including similar past experience and history, precedents, relevant financial, scientific and other evidence of each matter, and opinions from corporate and outside counsel. Accruals are recorded when occurrence is probable and the outcome is reasonably estimable. We may not be able to make a reliable estimate of losses or the range of possible losses when claims do not specify an amount of damages sought, when there are numerous plaintiffs, or when a case is in its early stages. We will represent our interests vigorously in all of the proceedings in which we are involved.

Legal proceedings and environmental matters are inherently complex and, as described above, we apply significant judgment in estimating probable outcomes. As a result, the potential exists for adjustments to liabilities and material variance between actual costs and estimates.

Information on the amounts accrued for litigation, environmental remediation and asset retirement are disclosed in note 18 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Our assessment of specific litigation matters at the date of issuance of this MD&A is set out below. For a discussion of our Idaho Mining Properties and Manitoba Mining Properties, see the section “Environmental Contingencies” on page 70.

OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME

On June 27, 2008, the Iraqi government filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. against AWB, a subsidiary we acquired in 2010, and 92 other parties, in a lawsuit alleging that the defendants participated in an illegal conspiracy to divert funds from the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme (“OFFP”) escrow account. The lawsuit seeks total damages in excess of $10-billion from the defendants, jointly and severally, as well as treble damages under the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. As to AWB specifically, the lawsuit alleges that AWB unlawfully diverted more than $232-million from the OFFP escrow account. AWB and a number of other defendants filed motions to dismiss the complaint in June 2010. The court dismissed the lawsuit in 2013. In 2014, the dismissal was upheld on appeal and the court refused the plaintiff’s request to reconsider the dismissal. Plaintiffs have until March 2015, to seek leave to appeal the decision. Although we believe that the possibility of a material financial effect from this matter is remote, an adverse decision could have a material adverse effect on Agrium’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. We have not accrued a liability for damages for this matter.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS

Agrium’s operations are subject to a variety of federal, provincial, state and local laws, regulations, licenses and permits, the purpose of which is to protect the environment. These environmental protection requirements may apply during design and construction, operation or modification, at the time of plant or mine closure, and beyond.

The environmental requirements for new projects typically focus on baseline site conditions; ensuring that the design and equipment selection meet operating requirements; the satisfaction of permitting, preconstruction studies, discharge and other operating requirements; and the use of appropriate safeguards during construction.

Licenses, permits and approvals at operating sites are obtained in accordance with laws and regulations, which may limit or regulate operating conditions, rates and efficiency; land, water and raw material use and management; product storage, quality and transportation; waste storage and disposal; and emissions and other discharges. Additional legal requirements may apply in circumstances where site contamination predates the current applicable regulatory framework where remediation is ongoing or where there is otherwise evidence that historic remediation activities have not been successful in protecting the environment. These additional requirements may result in an environmental remediation liability that must be resolved.

 

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Finally, the environmental protection requirements that may apply at the time of plant closure can be of two types: environmental remediation that did not come due or arise until operations ceased; or asset retirement obligations stipulated by contractual or constructive obligations or other legal requirements. Asset retirement obligations typically involve the removal of the asset, remediation of any contamination resulting from the use of that asset and reclamation of the land.

We record provisions under IFRS for environmental remediation and asset retirement. Provision amounts are provided in note 18 to our 2014 Financial Statements, which are incorporated herein by reference. If a matter does not meet the requirements for recognition as a provision under IFRS, it is classified as an environmental contingency.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTINGENCIES

We are responsible for environmental remediation of certain facilities and sites. Work at these sites is in various stages of environmental management; we are assessing and investigating some sites and remediating or monitoring others. New information, including changes in regulations or results of investigations by regulatory bodies, could lead to reassessment of our exposure related to these matters. In addition, we may revise our estimates of our future obligations because they are dependent on a number of uncertain factors, including the method and extent of the remediation and cost-sharing arrangements with other parties involved.

In assessing whether we would accrue a provision, we undertake a provision review process at each reporting period. Our process includes a review by technical staff in consultation with in-house legal counsel and internal accounting professionals to determine whether current information available to us supports our estimates of the financial effect of these matters and our related disclosures. Where appropriate, in-house legal counsel consults with external counsel as to its analysis and conclusions about the facts of each case, the status of litigation, and discussions and correspondence with third parties. We also review publicly available information for similar matters involving other companies. Our review includes previously assessed matters and an assessment as to whether any new matters require review.

Some remediation activities at our sites are subject to the U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), the U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and similar federal, state, provincial and local environmental laws. CERCLA provides for phases of remediation (investigation, risk assessment, remedy selection, remedial design and construction, maintenance and long-term monitoring, and closure) under regulatory oversight.

For the matters described below, at the date of issuance of our 2014 Financial Statements, we determined that we could not make a reliable estimate of the amount and timing of any financial effect in excess of the amounts accrued. Reasons for this determination include complexity of the matters; early phases of most proceedings; lack of information on the nature and timing of future actions in the matters; dependency on the completion and findings of investigations and assessments; and the lack of specific information as to the nature, extent, timing and cost of future remediation. Until we have greater clarity as to our liability and the extent of our financial exposure, it is not practical to make a reliable estimate of the financial effect. As negotiations, discussions and assessments proceed, we may provide estimates. Events or factors that could alleviate our current inability to make reliable estimates for these matters include further identification of allegations or demands; completion of remediation phases; a ruling by a court or other regulatory body having jurisdiction; or initiation of substantive settlement negotiations.

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY INITIATIVE

In 2003, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) began investigating the phosphate industry as part of its National Enforcement Initiative regarding the mineral processing industry. The purpose of the EPA’s National Enforcement Initiative is to ensure that waste resulting from mineral processing is managed in accordance with RCRA regulations. RCRA is the federal statute that governs the generation, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. The EPA is also evaluating the industry’s compliance with certain U.S. Clean Air Act (“CAA”) programs, including Maximum Achievable Control Technology (“MACT”) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration, the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (“EPCRA”) and CERCLA.

In 2005, the EPA and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (“IDEQ”) commenced an investigation of the Conda facility to evaluate compliance with CAA, CERCLA, EPCRA, RCRA and relevant state law. The EPA has notified Nu-West Industries, Inc. (“Nu-West”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agrium, of potential violations of CAA, CERCLA, EPCRA and RCRA, at the Conda facility.

In 2007, the EPA issued a Notice of Violation (“NOV”) to Nu-West alleging certain violations of the CAA and MACT at phosphoric acid production facilities, primarily involving pollution control equipment as well as start-up, shut-down and malfunction procedures. Nu-West formally responded to the EPA allegations; however, the NOV remains open. The EPA has yet to identify any further CAA allegations or demands.

 

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In 2008, the EPA issued a NOV to Nu-West identifying certain alleged violations of RCRA, focusing principally on the government’s interpretation of the Bevill exemption, among other regulatory standards. Nu-West is cooperating with the government’s inquiry and is in active discussion to resolve the EPA’s allegations. Among other activities designed to assist in obtaining resolution of the EPA’s claims, in 2009, Nu-West entered into a voluntary consent order with the EPA to evaluate potential impacts on the environment from the Conda facility’s operations by means of an environmental assessment pursuant to section 3013 of RCRA. Nu-West is working cooperatively with the EPA and the IDEQ to negotiate work scopes to advance this assessment. In 2014, Nu-West continued to perform site assessment activities, and we expect that the overall assessment will be substantially completed during 2015; however, completion will be dependent on the results of the specific assessment activities.

Nu-West, along with other industry members also being evaluated under the same National Enforcement Initiative, is involved in ongoing discussions with the EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and various environmental agencies to resolve these matters. Due to the nature of the allegations, Agrium is uncertain as to how the matters will be resolved or if litigation will ensue. Resolution of the government’s CAA, CERCLA, EPCRA and RCRA allegations may be by settlement. Potential settlement terms may include requirements to pay certain penalties, which Agrium currently believes will not be material, modify certain operating practices and undertake certain capital improvement projects, provide financial assurance for the future closure, maintenance and monitoring costs for the phosphogypsum stack system at the Conda facility, and resolve the RCRA section 3013 voluntary consent order site investigation findings. Nu-West is continuing to negotiate the terms of settlement with the EPA and DOJ.

In 2008, the EPA further notified Nu-West that the government had commenced investigation of phosphate industry compliance with certain provisions of CERCLA and EPCRA. In March 2011, the EPA issued a NOV to Nu-West alleging violations of certain emissions reporting and related requirements under CERCLA and EPCRA. Nu-West is performing technical research and review in coordination with industry members in support of developing industry reporting protocols and is in ongoing discussions with the EPA in response to these allegations.

LEGACY ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES: IDAHO MINING PROPERTIES

Nu-West has performed, is performing, or in the future may perform site investigation and remediation activities at six closed phosphate mine sites and one former mineral processing facility near Soda Springs, Idaho (“Idaho Legacy Sites”). These sites were mined and operated from as early as 1955 until as late as 1997. Selenium, a trace mineral essential for optimal human health but which can be toxic at higher concentrations, was found to be leaching from reclaimed lands associated with historic phosphate mines owned, leased or operated by Nu-West or other parties. Nu-West, the U.S. government and other phosphate producers have been working diligently to identify the sources of selenium contamination, to develop remedies for the closed mines and to implement best practices to ensure selenium issues do not become a concern for current and new mining operations.

In 2013, the U.S. government and Nu-West reached an agreement for four Idaho Legacy Sites. Under the agreement, the U.S. government will (a) pay 33 percent of past and future investigation and remediation costs; and (b) contribute, independent of its 33 percent share all the funds remaining from the government’s recoveries from a bankruptcy proceeding involving Washington Group International, a past responsible party at the closed mine sites. Remaining funds available for recovery are estimated to be approximately $2-million. Nu-West has not accrued any amounts for potential recoveries from third parties. Since reaching this settlement with the U.S. government, Nu-West has executed subsequent agreements with federal and state environmental agencies under CERCLA, establishing the scope of preliminary work to be conducted at the four sites. Nu-West expects to complete substantial remedial construction at one of these sites by 2016. IDEQ is overseeing remediation programs for the three other Idaho Legacy Sites under agreements with Nu-West signed in 2014 and in previous years.

For all seven of the Idaho Legacy Sites, Nu-West continued in 2014 to develop and perform the preliminary scope of work, which it expects to be complete in one to three years. Completion of this preliminary work will enable Nu-West and the agencies to determine what, if any, further remediation work will be required.

LEGACY ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES: MANITOBA MINING PROPERTIES

In 1996, Agrium acquired Viridian Inc. (“Viridian”), which is now a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary of Agrium. Viridian has retained certain liabilities associated with the Fox Mine Site – a closed mineral processing site near Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Viridian is currently treating water draining from the site to meet downstream provincial water quality standards. Viridian has substantially completed the investigation phase of remediation and is currently in discussions with the Province of Manitoba regarding remedial alternatives selection. Concurrence and approval from the province

 

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of a remedial design are expected within the next 36 months. For this matter, we have not disclosed information about the amount accrued for site remediation because disclosure of such information would seriously prejudice our position in discussions with the Province.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Directly and indirectly, Agrium generates greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions through the production, distribution and use of its products. These emissions may be subject to climate change policy and regulations being developed in North America. However, these policies are developing in a unique way within the various state, provincial and federal jurisdictions.

In Alberta, Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (“SGER”) has been enacted that applies to facilities emitting greater than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (“CO2e”) per year. Existing facilities that exceed this threshold are required to decrease their emissions intensity by 12 percent relative to their 2003 – 2005 average baseline. If a company is unable to decrease its emissions intensity through increases in operational efficiency, it is still able to comply with the Alberta requirements by purchasing qualifying emission offsets from other sources in Alberta or by contributing to the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund (“the Fund”). Historically, the contribution costs to the Fund have been set at $15 per tonne of CO2e. The SGER was originally set to be revised in September 2014; however, the Government of Alberta delayed any revisions until the end of June 2015. As such, the specific requirements of the SGER and the economic value of the contribution costs to the Fund may change in 2015.

Agrium has three facilities in Alberta with CO2e emissions in excess of 100,000 tonnes per year. Those facilities are Redwater Fertilizer Operations (total typical annual emissions of approximately 1,170,000 tonnes); Carseland Nitrogen Operations (total typical annual emissions of approximately 550,000 tonnes); and Fort Saskatchewan Nitrogen Operations (total typical annual emissions of approximately 550,000 tonnes). Actual emissions in each case depend on operating time and conditions, which is influenced by market demand and supply factors. The annual impact of this legislation on Agrium is expected to range from $1-million to $4-million a year going forward based on a valuation of $15 per tonne, depending on variations in production from year to year, which will directly impact CO2e emissions. These expected annual costs are lower than they otherwise could have been, due in part to Agrium’s implementation of various efficiency and emissions reduction projects. These projects include overall efforts to increase operational efficiency, the purchase of emission offset credits, and the operation of a cogeneration facility in partnership with TransCanada Energy Ltd. at Carseland that captures waste heat and produces emission offset credits. Agrium and the fertilizer industry have also been involved in the development and implementation of the Nitrous Oxide Emissions Reduction Protocol (“NERP”), which is designed to generate emission offset credits for farmers who reduce their nitrous oxide (“N2O”) emissions. N2O is a significant GHG with a global warming potential that is approximately 300 times greater than CO2. NERP was approved by Alberta Environment in October 2010. The implementation of NERP is expected to result in more effective farm application of nitrogen fertilizer, reduced GHG emissions at the farm level and the introduction of additional low-cost offsets to the market.

Agrium will continue to take a leadership role in the fertilizer industry’s negotiations with governments on fair and equitable air emission reduction targets in an effort to achieve a pragmatic and realistic compliance system that preserves the global competitiveness of the industry. To that end, Agrium and the Canadian fertilizer industry are currently in discussions with the Government of Canada on the industry’s GHG reduction target to help meet Canada’s commitment pursuant to the Copenhagen Accord to reduce GHG emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. In an effort to reduce CO2e emissions, Agrium has also developed strategies to improve energy efficiency in our operations, capture and store carbon, reduce the amount of N2O emissions from our nitric acid facilities and reduce emissions in agriculture.

About 60 percent of the natural gas required to produce ammonia – the basic building block of all nitrogen fertilizer – is used to provide the necessary hydrogen for the process. Given current economically viable technologies, the CO2 emissions related to this process are fixed by the laws of chemistry and cannot be reduced. Use of the remaining natural gas may be managed through improvements in energy efficiency, which will reduce CO2 emissions. Significant early action has been implemented by the Company to achieve these improvements, and the Fort Saskatchewan facility is currently being used as a demonstration project for implementing an additional energy efficiency program for our nitrogen operations. Independent government-sponsored studies estimate that a further 3 to 5 percent reduction in combustion emissions intensity may be theoretically attainable for the Canadian industry, but this will be a challenging and potentially cost prohibitive target.

 

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Where feasible, Agrium is pursuing opportunities to capture CO2 from our nitrogen operations for enhanced oil recovery (“EOR”), industrial use or underground storage. At our Borger, Texas operation, approximately 300,710 tons of CO2 were captured in 2014 for EOR.

Agrium also has installed N2O reduction technology at two of our three operating U.S. nitric acid plants and has plans to install N2O reduction technology at our third plant during 2015 or beyond depending on reduction technology performance currently under evaluation.

Agrium estimates that the production stage of its operations accounts for roughly 95 percent of its overall emissions. In 2011, Agrium met its 2020 commitment to reduce North American GHG emissions intensity by 10 percent from 2005 levels. The GHG emissions intensity reduction target was met ahead of schedule, primarily through the closure of less carbon-efficient facilities and increased production at more carbon-efficient facilities. Agrium has set a new target to reduce its GHG emissions intensity by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

In the U.S., the EPA issued GHG emissions regulations that establish a reporting program for emissions of CO2, methane and other GHGs, as well as a permitting program for large GHG emissions sources. While the U.S. Congress has considered various legislative initiatives to reduce or tax GHG emissions, to date it has not enacted any laws in that regard. However, if Congress undertakes comprehensive tax reform in the coming year, it is possible that such reform could include a carbon tax. The EPA has also proposed regulations that limit GHG emissions from power plants and announced its intent to issue further regulations limiting GHG emissions with the goal of reducing GHG emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

We prepare our financial statements in accordance with IFRS, which requires us to make judgments, assumptions and estimates in applying accounting policies. Critical estimates are those most subject to uncertainty and which have the most significant risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next year.

In note 26 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, we have described in detail the following accounting estimates, which are the most critical in helping readers understand and evaluate our reported financial results. In our Consolidated Financial Statements, we have also discussed assumptions underlying our estimates and factors that might impact our estimates.

These critical accounting estimates require our most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. We have set out below additional information on events, trends and uncertainties that could impact our estimates. As well, we have described the impact on our financial statements of reasonably possible change in one assumption, while holding all other assumptions constant.

PURCHASE PRICE ALLOCATION

We completed the acquisition of the Viterra Agri-products business in 2013 while the purchase price allocation was completed in 2014. We have completed various other acquisitions in 2014 amounting to $179-million. We will finalize purchase price allocations for these acquisitions in 2015.

Retail is focused on achieving growth targets by continuing to acquire businesses in the future.

REBATES

We collect substantially all receivables associated with vendor rebates in the current fiscal year and therefore do not need to make subjective long-term estimates. Adjustments made to our gross profit and inventory in the following fiscal year have historically not been material. A 10 percent change in our vendor rebates at December 31, 2014, would have affected Retail’s net earnings by $15-million in 2014.

 

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INVENTORY VALUATION

We continuously assess whether lower prices for our products require that we write down inventories. During 2014 and 2013, we did not record any material inventory write-downs.

A 1-percent reduction in our inventories at December 31, 2014, would have reduced consolidated net earnings by $27-million in 2014. Decreases in global prices of our commodities held in inventory have the greatest potential to cause us to write down inventories.

IMPAIRMENT TESTING

We did not record any goodwill impairment in 2014.

Sensitivity of the results of goodwill impairment testing to changes in assumptions is described in note 12 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to an impairment that could be material. If key assumptions and estimates about our operations change, including lower than assumed sales growth, higher costs or other negative factors, we could record a material impairment to goodwill.

INCOME TAXES

Although we believe our assumptions and estimates are reasonable, tax assets are realizable and our accruals for tax liabilities are adequate for all open tax years based on our interpretations of tax law and prior experience, actual results could differ. This may affect consolidated income tax expense and earnings in future years.

Our effective income tax rate in a given financial statement period could change materially to the extent that we prevail in matters for which we have recorded a liability or are required to pay amounts in excess of our recorded liability.

PROVISIONS

Given the nature of these provisions, they can change significantly due to the inherent uncertainties in our estimates. Changes could have a material impact on our future earnings.

A 10-percent change in our provision for litigation at December 31, 2014, would have affected net earnings by $3-million in 2014.

A change in the assumptions underlying our provisions could have a significant impact on our financial position and results of operations. A 1-percent change in the rate we use to discount our provisions at December 31, 2014, would have affected consolidated net earnings by $8-million in 2014.

SHARE-BASED PAYMENTS

A 10-percent change in our share-based payments expenses for the year ended December 31, 2014, would have affected net earnings by $4-million in 2014.

We made changes to our share-based payments plans effective for 2015. These changes include the introduction of Restricted Stock Units as a replacement of stock options for non-officers and replacement of cash-settled stock appreciation rights for officer employees with equity-settled stock options. The future impact of these changes includes increased dilution of earnings per share.

We have not made any material changes in the accounting methodology of our critical accounting estimates for the past two fiscal years.

IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, may require that we add or modify accounting estimates relating to revenues.

 

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ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND POLICY CHANGES

 

New or

amended

Standard/

interpretation

Description

Agrium’s date and

method of adoption

Impact

 

New

 

IFRS 9

 

Financial Instruments replaced previous guidance on the classification and measurement of financial assets, which will now be classified on initial recognition at either (a) amortized cost, or (b) fair value, with gains and losses on remeasurement recognized in earnings, except for recognition in other comprehensive income on election for equity instruments not held for trading.

 

Financial Instruments (2013) replaces the hedge accounting requirements in IAS 39 to more closely align the accounting with risk management activities, introduces new requirements when an entity has chosen the fair value option for its own debt, and removes the mandatory effective date for IFRS 9.

 

 

Adopted January 1, 2014, retrospectively without restatement of prior year comparatives.

 

We reclassified financial assets that we held at January 1, 2014, retrospectively, resulting in balance sheet reclassifications without impact to earnings.

 

We began hedge accounting for certain natural gas contracts in 2014, as described in note 21 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

New

 

IFRS 15

 

Revenue from Contracts with Customers establishes a five-step model that will apply to revenue earned from a contract with a customer. The standard provides specific guidance on identifying separate performance obligations in the contract and allocating the transaction price to the separate performance obligations.

 

 

Agrium expects to adopt for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2017.

 

We will evaluate the impact of IFRS 15 in 2015.

 

Amended

 

IFRS 11

 

Joint Arrangements clarifies that when an entity acquires an interest in a joint operation that meets the definition of a business, it should be accounted for under IFRS 3 Business Combinations.

 

 

Agrium will adopt January 1, 2015.

 

There will be no material impact on adoption.

 

Amended

 

IAS 32

 

Offsetting Financial Assets and Liabilities (a) clarifies requirements for the right to set-off for rights that are contingent, and enforceability in default, insolvency or bankruptcy of all parties to a liability and (b) clarifies provisions on net settlement.

 

 

Amendments adopted January 1, 2014.

 

There was no material impact on adoption.

 

New

 

IFRIC 21

 

Levies establishes guidance on accounting for levies imposed by governments.

 

 

Adopted January 1, 2014, retrospectively.

 

There was no material impact on adoption.

 

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ADDITIONAL IFRS AND NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

In general, an additional IFRS financial measure is a measure relevant to understanding a company’s financial performance that is not a minimum financial statement measure mandated by IFRS. A non-IFRS financial measure generally either excludes or includes amounts not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS.

The following table outlines our additional IFRS financial measures, their definitions and how management assesses each measures. As the measures set out below are presented in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report, they are classified as additional IFRS financial measures where they reflect consolidated Agrium and as non-IFRS financial measures where they do not reflect consolidated Agrium, including references to EBITDA when presented on an operating segment basis.

 

Additional IFRS financial measures      

 

Additional IFRS

financial measures

Definition Management’s assessment

 

EBIT

 

Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before finance costs and income taxes.

 

EBIT provides a supplemental measure used by management to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of our businesses; (2) evaluate our ability to service debt; and (3) determine resource allocations. We believe EBIT is useful to investors, securities analysts and management, as the measure allows for an evaluation of segment performance exclusive of capital structure and income taxes, both of which are not a direct result of the efficiency of each business and are generally accounted for and evaluated on a consolidated basis.

 

 

Consolidated ROOCE

(Consolidated return on

operating capital employed)

 

Last 12 months’ EBIT less income taxes at a tax rate of 27 percent (2013 – 27 percent) divided by rolling four quarter average operating capital employed. Operating capital employed includes non-cash working capital, property, plant and equipment, investments in associates and joint ventures, and other assets.

 

 

Consolidated ROOCE provides a measure of our operating performance and the efficiency of our capital allocation process over the long term. We believe this metric is useful in measuring and maximizing shareholder value in a growing company.

 

Consolidated ROCE

(Consolidated return

on capital employed)

 

Last 12 months’ EBIT less income taxes at a tax rate of 27 percent (2013 – 27 percent) divided by rolling four quarter average capital employed. Capital employed includes operating capital employed, intangibles and goodwill.

 

Consolidated ROCE provides a measure of our operating performance and the efficiency of our capital allocation process over the long term. This is similar to ROOCE but this measure considers the intangibles and goodwill that reflects the purchase premium in buying a business. We believe this metric is useful in measuring and maximizing shareholder value in a growing company.

 

 

Interest coverage

 

Last 12 months’ EBITDA divided by interest, which includes interest on long-term debt plus other interest.

 

Management monitors this metric as part of strategic capital management, as our revolving credit facilities require that we maintain specific interest coverage. We believe this is useful in assessing our ability to cover our net interest expense with our operating income.

 

 

Net debt to

net debt plus equity

 

Net debt includes short-term debt and long-term debt, net of cash and cash equivalents. Equity consists of shareholders’ equity.

 

Management monitors this metric as part of strategic capital management. We believe this is useful to investors and other interested parties in assessing our growth capacity and future capital needs.

 

Free cash flow

 

Cash provided by operating activities less sustaining capital expenditures.

 

Management monitors this metric as part of strategic capital management. We believe this is useful in assessing our available financing after considering the funds required to maintain our current asset base.

 

 

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The following table outlines our non-IFRS financial measures, their definitions and usefulness, and how management assesses each measure.

 

Non-IFRS financial measures      
Non-IFRS financial measures Definition Management’s assessment

 

EBITDA

 

Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization.

 

Refer to EBIT. This measure is also used by investors and securities analysts as a valuation metric and as an alternative to cash provided by operating activities. This metric excludes income tax expenses and financing and related interest charges, which can distort the comparability of business units’ historical performance as these costs are managed at the consolidated level and cannot be allocated to all business units on a basis meaningful for comparison to other companies.

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

 

EBITDA before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization of joint ventures.

 

Refer to EBIT and EBITDA. Our joint ventures are included in statement of operations using the equity method, which does not separately disclose finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is useful in evaluating our performance by presenting a measure of EBITDA that includes the EBITDA of our joint ventures.

 

 

EBITDA to sales

 

EBITDA divided by sales.

 

Management uses this metric to measure earnings and cash flow generated from each dollar of sales. We believe this metric is useful to evaluate operating profitability on a basis that is comparable from period to period.

 

 

Debt to EBITDA

 

Short-term plus long-term debt divided by EBITDA.

 

Management, investors and securities analysts use this metric to measure the Company’s ability to manage and repay debt payments.

 

 

Cash operating coverage ratio

 

Cash operating coverage ratio represents gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization less EBITDA, divided by gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization.

 

 

Used to measure operating performance and efficiency of our operating expenses.

 

 

Retail – North America, International, Australia and Total Retail measures: return on operating capital employed, return on capital employed, average non-cash working capital to sales, operating coverage ratio, cash operating coverage ratio, EBITDA to sales, and EBIT

 

These measures when calculated using information from our Retail segment are considered non-IFRS financial measures as the specific Retail components are not separately presented in our Consolidated Financial Statements or Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Operating coverage ratio represents gross profit less EBIT, divided by gross profit.

 

See definitions for ROOCE and ROCE in the preceding Additional IFRS Financial Measures table.

 

 

Management, investors and securities analysts use these metrics to evaluate performance of our Retail business.

 

Refer to the equivalent consolidated metrics above on how management assesses each measure.

 

Comparable store sales

 

Represents the increase or decrease in current period Retail store sales compared to the prior period.

 

We include a location in the comparable store base once it is in operation or owned for over 12 months. If we close a store, we retain the sales of the closed location in the comparable store base if the closed location is in close geographical proximity to an existing location, unless we plan to exit the market area or are unable to economically or logistically serve it. We do not make adjustments for temporary closures, expansions or renovations of stores.

 

 

Financial statement users commonly use this metric evaluate performance in the retail and distribution industries. We believe this metric is useful in highlighting the performance of our existing stores by measuring the change in sales for such stores for a period over the comparable period of equivalent length.

 

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Non-IFRS financial measures Definition Management’s assessment

 

Normalized comparable store sales

 

Comparable store sales normalized by using published NPK benchmark prices and adjusting current year prices to reflect pricing from the previous year based on our percent of NPK utilization by product.

 

 

Refer to comparable store sales. This metric removes fluctuations created by changes in commodity prices.

 

Capital expenditures – sustaining

 

Cost of replacements and betterments to our facilities.

 

 

Used to evaluate capital spending on improving existing operations and capacity.

 

 

Capital expenditures – investing

 

Expenditures on significant expansion of our existing operations.

 

 

Used to evaluate capital spending on business expansion and development.

 

 

Cost of product manufactured (“COPM”) excluding depreciation and amortization

 

All fixed and variable costs are accumulated in COPM. When these costs are divided by the production tonnes for the period, the result is actual COPM per tonne, which is compared to the standard COPM per tonne – a calculation of fixed and variable costs for a standard or typical period of production. The standard COPM per tonne is multiplied by the production tonnes for the period, and the resulting dollar amount is transferred to inventory. Any remaining costs are recorded directly to cost of product sold as production volume or cost efficiency variances. For purposes of this disclosure, COPM excludes depreciation and amortization expense.

 

Fixed costs per tonne will fluctuate as production tonnage fluctuates. Fixed costs will remain constant whether or not tonnes are produced. Variable costs per tonne remain constant as production tonnage fluctuates. Variable costs fluctuate as production tonnage fluctuates.

 

Direct freight is a transportation cost to move the product from an Agrium location to the point of sale. It is not a component of COPM.

 

 

Metric used by management to evaluate performance relative to our peers on our cost of product manufactured excluding depreciation and amortization during the period.

 

There is no directly comparable IFRS measure for cost of product manufactured.

 

Debt-to-capital ratio

 

Total debt divided by the sum of total debt and total equity. For purposes of this ratio, total debt is defined as the sum of short-term debt, long-term debt, guarantees and letters of credit, net of cash and cash equivalents.

 

 

Metric used by management to evaluate the Company’s compliance with our facility covenants.

 

There is no directly comparable IFRS measure for debt-to-capital ratio.

 

 

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RECONCILIATIONS OF ADDITIONAL IFRS AND NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

Adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA to EBIT

(millions of U.S. dollars)    Retail      Wholesale      Other     Consolidated  

2014

          

Adjusted EBITDA

     1,119         821         (192     1,748   

Equity accounted joint ventures:

          

Finance costs and income taxes

             24                24   

Depreciation and amortization

             14                14   

EBITDA

     1,119         783         (192     1,710   

Depreciation and amortization

     305         230         15        550   

EBIT

     814         553         (207     1,160   

2013

          

Adjusted EBITDA

     986         1,316         (146     2,156   

Equity accounted joint ventures:

          

Finance costs and income taxes

             40                40   

Depreciation and amortization

             14                14   

EBITDA

     986         1,262         (146     2,102   

Depreciation and amortization

     238         217         17        472   

EBIT

     748         1,045         (163     1,630   

Retail comparable store sales and Retail normalized comparable store sales

      Twelve months ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted)    2014     2013  

Retail sales from the current period comparable store base

     11,487        11,234   

Prior year Retail sales

     11,913        11,479   

Comparable store sales (%)

     (3.6 %)      (2.1 %) 

Current year sales normalized for NPK benchmark prices

     11,635        12,000   

Normalized comparable store sales (%)

     (2.3 %)      4.5

Return on operating capital employed and return on capital employed

      Rolling four quarters ended
December 31, 2014
    Rolling four quarters ended
December 31, 2013
 
(millions of U.S. dollars, except as noted)    Retail –
North
America
    Retail     Consolidated
Agrium
    Retail –
North
America
    Retail     Consolidated
Agrium
 

EBIT

     723        814        1,160        940        748        1,630   

Income taxes at a rate of 27 percent (2013 – 27 percent)

     195        220        313        254        202        440   

EBIT less income taxes

     528        594        847        686        546        1,190   

Average non-cash working capital

     1,732        2,249        2,201        1,715        2,337        2,698   

Average property, plant and equipment

     903        1,013        5,819        726        852        4,244   

Average investments in associates and joint ventures

     39        83        616        33        79        631   

Average other assets

     4        11        94        5        15        104   

Average operating capital employed

     2,678        3,356        8,730        2,479        3,283        7,677   

Return on operating capital employed (ROOCE) (%)

     20     18     10     28     17     15

Average operating capital employed

     2,678        3,356        8,730        2,479        3,283        7,677   

Average intangibles

     644        710        716        547        622        660   

Average goodwill

     1,810        1,957        1,984        1,791        2,125        2,206   

Average capital employed

     5,132        6,023        11,430        4,817        6,030        10,543   

Return on capital employed (ROCE) (%)

     10     10     7     14     9     11

 

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2014 FOURTH QUARTER MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

CONSOLIDATED NET EARNINGS

Agrium’s 2014 fourth quarter net earnings from continuing operations were $70-million or $0.46 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations compared to net earnings from continuing operations of $110-million or $0.74 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the same quarter of 2013.

Financial overview

   Three months ended December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts and where noted) 2014   2013   Change   % Change  

Sales

  2,705      2,867      (162   (6

Gross profit

  732      740      (8   (1

Expenses

  625      557      68      12   

Earnings before finance costs and income taxes (“EBIT”)

  107      183      (76   (42

Net earnings from continuing operations

  70      110      (40   (36

Net loss from discontinued operations

  (19   (11   (8   73   

Net earnings

  51      99      (48   (48

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations

  0.46      0.74      (0.28   (38

Diluted loss per share from discontinued operations

  (0.13   (0.08   (0.05   63   

Diluted earnings per share

  0.33      0.66      (0.33   (50

Effective tax rate (%)

  (4   24      N/A      N/A   

SALES AND GROSS PROFIT

Sales and gross profit variance by business unit

   Quarter to date change  
(millions of U.S. dollars) Sales   Gross profit  

Retail

  (45   28   

Wholesale

  (133   (42

Other

  16      6   
    (162   (8

Sales

Sales decreased by $162-million for the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year. Wholesale sales for the fourth quarter decreased as a result of lower potash and nitrogen sales volumes compared to the fourth quarter of 2013 due to an extended outage to complete the tie-in at our Vanscoy potash facility and an outage at our Redwater nitrogen facility. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in the realized selling price for phosphate compared to fourth quarter of 2013, consistent with benchmark pricing.

Gross Profit

Our gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $732-million, a decrease of $8-million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The main drivers of this variance consisted of:

 

  Retail’s gross profit increased by $28-million to $614-million for the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the fourth quarter of 2013 due to higher rebates from suppliers on crop protection products and increased services and other revenues related to higher livestock export contracts; and

 

  Wholesale’s gross profit decreased by $42-million to $130-million for the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the fourth quarter of 2013 primarily as a result of lower sales volumes due to an extended outage to complete the tie-in at our Vanscoy potash facility and an outage at our Redwater nitrogen facility and increased potash and nitrogen cost of product sold.

 

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EXPENSES

General and administrative

   Three months ended
December 31,
 
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Share-based payments

  25      28   

Depreciation and amortization

  7      9   

Cash general and administrative

  71      79   
    103      116   

General and administrative expenses decreased by $13-million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Cash general and administrative expenses decreased by $8-million during the quarter primarily due to a decrease in payroll expense of $5-million. Share-based payments decreased by $3-million due to a lower share price increase during the quarter compared to the same period last year.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, we recorded a purchase gain of $257-million from the Viterra acquisition and goodwill impairment of $220-million in Retail – Australia. No goodwill impairment or purchase gain was recorded in 2014.

Earnings from associates and joint ventures decreased by $27-million in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year due to unscheduled plant outages at our Profertil facility in the fourth quarter of 2014 coupled with the fourth quarter of 2013 having a recovery of $14-million related to a reversal of a gas surcharge provision.

OTHER EXPENSES

 

  Three months ended
December 31,
 
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014   2013  

Net foreign exchange and derivatives (not designated as hedges) loss

  31      16   

Interest income

  (22   (25

Environmental remediation and asset retirement obligations

  3      2   

Bad debt recovery

  (11   (11

Potash profit and capital tax

  1      6   

Other

  7      8   
    9      (4

Other expenses increased by $13-million during the fourth quarter of 2014 primarily due to losses on commodity derivatives not designated as hedges due to declining natural gas prices partially offset by a $5-million decrease in potash profit and capital tax related to lower potash production tax accrual in the fourth quarter of 2014.

EFFECTIVE TAX RATE

The effective tax rate on continuing operations was (4) percent for the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to 24 percent for the same period last year due to the recognition of a previously unrecognized tax asset. Excluding the recognition of a one-time previously unrecognized tax asset of $7-million, the effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2014 would have been 6 percent.

 

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BUSINESS SEGMENT PERFORMANCE

RETAIL

Retail reported fourth quarter sales of $2.1-billion, which is in line with the $2.1-billion reported in the same quarter last year. Gross profit was a record $614-million in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 5 percent increase from last year’s fourth quarter of $586-million. Retail also reported a record EBITDA of $181-million, up $15-million from the fourth quarter of last year (excluding the net effect of one-time acquisition and asset valuation adjustments for Viterra and Retail – Australia made in the fourth quarter of 2013). Retail’s international operations supported these record results with higher margins and EBITDA compared to the same period last year. As well, our solid results were achieved in a lower global crop price environment, a late harvest this fall and an early arrival of winter across much of the U.S. compared to last year. This resulted in a shortened application window this fall that reduced demand for nutrients and delayed grower seed commitments this quarter; however, this was offset by strong results for crop protection products. On a full year basis, EBITDA reached a record $1.1-billion in 2014, surpassing last year’s record of $957-million (which excludes the one-time items mentioned above).

Total crop nutrient sales were $972-million this quarter, down slightly from $1.1-billion in the fourth quarter of 2013. The reduction in sales was due to a 14 percent decline in nutrient volumes in the U.S. this quarter, relative to the fourth quarter of 2013 related to unfavorable weather during the fall nutrient application season. Gross profit for crop nutrients was $156-million this quarter, a decrease of $22-million compared to the $178-million reported in the fourth quarter of 2013. Selling prices for crop nutrients were similar to the fourth quarter of 2013, although per tonne margins declined from $92 per tonne in the fourth quarter of 2013 to $87 per tonne this quarter partly due to a change in the geographic mix of the nutrients sold, where a larger percentage of total product sold was outside of the higher profit margin U.S. market. Total crop nutrient margins as a percentage of sales were 16 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, slightly below the 17 percent reported in the same quarter last year.

Crop protection product sales were $552-million in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to $511-million in the same period last year. Higher sales were seen late in the fourth quarter, particularly wholesale sales to dealers. Gross profit was $260-million this quarter, compared to $205-million reported in the fourth quarter of 2013. Crop protection margins as a percentage of sales were 47 percent this quarter compared to 40 percent in the same period of 2013. Much of the increase in margins was due to higher rebates during the quarter from achievement of certain sales measures with several significant North American suppliers coming later in the year compared to the same period in 2013.

Seed sales were $91-million in the fourth quarter of 2014, down slightly from the $95-million reported in the fourth quarter of last year. Gross profit was $50-million this quarter, down from $60-million reported in the same period last year. The reduction in sales revenue and gross profit was primarily due to a decrease in planted winter wheat acres and lower supplier rebates this quarter. Seed margins as a percentage of sales were 55 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, a reduction from the 63 percent reported in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Sales of merchandise in the fourth quarter of 2014 were $211-million, compared to $228-million in the same period last year. Gross profit for this product line was $30-million this quarter, similar to the fourth quarter of 2013. Margins on merchandise sales this quarter were 14 percent, a 1 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The lower sales and increase in overall margins as a percent of sales was primarily due to exiting the low-margin wool export business in Australia as well as the implementation of a SKU (stock keeping unit) reduction program for general merchandise in Australia.

Services and other sales were $231-million this quarter, compared to the $216-million reported in the fourth quarter of 2013. Gross profit was $118-million in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to $113-million for the same period last year. The increase was due to strong livestock exports from Australia during the quarter.

Selling expenses as a percentage of sales was 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 which is up marginally from the 24 percent reported in the same period last year. Retail selling expenses were $514-million for the fourth quarter, compared to $504-million in the same period last year. This variance was due to additional businesses purchased since the fourth quarter of 2013, as well as a higher benefit accrual for U.S. employees. On an annual basis, our operating coverage ratio declined to 72 percent this year compared to 731 percent in 2013 due to our continued focus on Retail’s Operational Excellence targets during 2014.

 

 

 

1  Reference made to Retail metrics includes adjustments to remove the impact of the purchase gain and goodwill impairment

 

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WHOLESALE

Wholesale’s 2014 fourth quarter sales were $897-million, down from the $1.0-billion reported in the same quarter last year. Gross profit was $130-million this quarter, compared to $172-million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Wholesale Adjusted EBITDA was $150-million in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to $237-million reported in the same period last year. The decrease in earnings was primarily due to the planned downtime at the Vanscoy potash facility to tie-in the one million tonne potash expansion project and lower ammonia sales volumes resulting from the earliest winter season in the U.S. in over 10 years. This was partially offset by stronger results for phosphate.

Nitrogen gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $113-million compared to $129-million in the same quarter last year. Nitrogen sales volumes were 879,000 tonnes, a decrease from the 907,000 tonnes in the same quarter last year. The decrease was primarily due to lower ammonia sales volumes which were impacted by the unusually early onset of winter in the U.S. and downtime at our Redwater nitrogen facility to replace the waste heat boiler within the quarter. Realized sales prices and benchmark prices for most nitrogen products were similar to last year, although urea prices were higher year over year. Nitrogen cost of product sold was $331 per tonne this quarter, slightly above the $314 per tonne reported in the fourth quarter of 2013. Cost of product sold per tonne was impacted by extended maintenance work at the Redwater facility related to the planned replacement of the waste heat boiler this quarter. Average nitrogen gross margins were $128 per tonne this quarter, compared to $144 per tonne in the same period last year.

Agrium’s average natural gas cost included in cost of product sold (which includes transportation and administration costs) was $3.47/MMBtu this quarter ($3.62/MMBtu including the impact of realized losses on natural gas derivatives), compared to $3.51/MMBtu for the same period in 2013 ($3.39/MMBtu including the impact of realized gains on natural gas derivatives). Derivative gains or losses not designated as hedges are included in other expenses and not in cost of product sold, thus are not part of the calculation of gross profit. The average U.S. benchmark (NYMEX) natural gas price for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $3.94/MMBtu, compared to $3.63/MMBtu in the same quarter last year. The AECO (Alberta) basis differential was a $0.77/MMBtu discount to NYMEX in the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase from the $0.62/MMBtu discount in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Potash gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2014 was a loss of $50-million, compared to a profit of $39-million reported in the same quarter last year. Sales volumes were 19,000 tonnes this quarter compared to 344,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2013. The decrease in sales volumes was a result of the Vanscoy mine being out of production for the majority of the fourth quarter to complete the planned tie-in of the one million tonne expansion project. The tie-in was completed and the mine recommenced production in late December 2014. Realized sales prices for potash in North America were $375 per tonne compared to $353 per tonne in the same period last year as all current sales volumes were in the domestic market, which is consistent with a similar increase in benchmark pricing. Gross margin per tonne was impacted by high ongoing costs related to the tie-in activities, which were allocated over very low sales volumes.

Phosphate gross profit was $37-million in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to a loss of $4-million in the same quarter last year. Phosphate sales volumes were 305,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 7 percent increase from 285,000 tonnes in the same quarter last year due to strong operating rates and good regional demand. Realized phosphate sales prices were $656 per tonne this quarter compared to $560 per tonne in the same period last year, which is consistent with a similar increase in benchmark pricing. Phosphate cost of product sold was $534 per tonne in the fourth quarter of 2014, a decrease of $42 per tonne compared to the same period last year as a result of improved operating rates and efficiencies at the Redwater facility and lower fixed costs per tonne at both the Redwater and Conda facilities. Gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2014 was $122 per tonne compared to a negative $16 per tonne in the same period last year.

Ammonium sulfate, Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (“ESN®”, hereinafter referred to as “ESN”) and other gross profit was $27-million this quarter compared to $14-million in the same quarter of 2013. Ammonium sulfate gross profit was $14-million this quarter, $4-million higher than same period last year due to higher sales volumes and realized sales prices. ESN gross profit was $13-million compared to $2-million in the fourth quarter of 2013. This increase is due to higher realized sales prices and lower production costs in the current quarter. Purchase for resale gross profit for the fourth quarter was $9-million higher than the same period last year due to higher margins in the current period.

Wholesale expenses in the fourth quarter of 2014 were $46-million compared to $13-million in the same period last year. The increase is a result of $15-million in natural gas derivative losses in the current quarter (2013 – $3-million gain) largely due to the recent decline in North American natural gas forward curve prices as well as lower realized income from our equity investments in 2014 partly due to a reversal of a gas surcharge provision in 2013.

 

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OTHER

EBITDA for our Other non-operating business unit for the fourth quarter of 2014 was a net expense of $78-million, compared to a net expense of $94-million for the fourth quarter of 2013. The decrease was primarily due to a $9-million decrease in general and administrative expenses related to lower share-based payments and payroll expenses and $13-million non-recurring Viterra acquisition costs incurred in 2013.

RECONCILIATIONS OF FOURTH QUARTER ADDITIONAL IFRS AND NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

ADJUSTED EBITDA AND EBITDA TO EBIT

 

   Three months ended December 31, 2014   Three months ended December 31, 2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars) Retail   Wholesale   Other   Consolidated   Retail   Wholesale   Other   Consolidated  

Adjusted EBITDA

  181      150      (78   253      195      237      (94   338   

Equity accounted joint ventures:

Finance costs and income taxes

       4           4           19           19   

Depreciation and amortization

       4           4           5           5   

EBITDA

  181      142      (78   245      195      213      (94   314   

Depreciation and amortization

  77      58      3      138      72      54      5      131   

EBIT

  104      84      (81   107      123      159      (99   183   

 

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KEY ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS IN RESPECT OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

All of the forward-looking statements contained in this MD&A are qualified by the cautionary statements contained herein and by stated or inherent assumptions and apply only as of the date of this MD&A. Except as required by law, Agrium disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

The following table outlines significant forward-looking statements contained in this MD&A and provides the material assumptions used to develop such forward-looking statements and material risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Although Agrium believes that the material assumptions outlined below are reasonable, this list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the forward-looking statements. The reader should not place an undue reliance on these assumptions and such forward-looking statements.

 

Forward-looking statements Material assumptions Material risk factors
         
Continued growth in free cash flow and earnings including, Retail’s EBITDA to reach $1.3-billion by 2015 and achievement of certain cost savings in our Wholesale operations by 2017. Agrium’s business conditions are within normal parameters with respect to prices, margins, product availability and supplier agreements for our major products. Agrium’s ability to integrate acquisitions, including its ability to achieve efficiencies as planned.
Agrium is able to identify suitable candidates for acquisitions and to negotiate acceptable terms. Unexpected increase in input costs and inflation rate.
  Agrium is able to implement its standards, controls, procedures and policies at the acquired businesses to realize the expected synergies. Unexpected outages and turnarounds on the facilities.
Agrium’s $125-million of annual EBITDA improvement and $350-million one-time benefits in working capital targets. Agrium is able to reduce operating costs and improve margins. Unexpected increase in input costs and inflation rate.
Efficiencies related to future procurement and logistics are realized. Level and effectiveness of working capital management.
Agrium is able to reduce general and administrative expenses. Actual could differ from targeted sales proceeds.
  Targeted sales proceeds from divestment of certain businesses are achieved.    
Retail’s 2015 metric targets. Retail business conditions are within normal parameters with respect to prices, margins, product availability and supplier agreements for our major products. Retail’s ability to effectively implement planned business strategy.
Agrium is able to identify suitable candidates for acquisitions and to negotiate acceptable terms. Changes in general economic, market, business and weather conditions, industry competition and various events that could disrupt operations.
  Agrium is able to implement its standards, controls, procedures and policies at the acquired businesses to realize the expected synergies. General operating risks associated with investment in foreign jurisdictions.
Wholesale’s increase in potash and nitrogen capacity, operating rates, and production coming from the Vanscoy potash and Borger nitrogen expansion projects and completion of Profertil debottleneck project and expectation that Vanscoy expansion will reduce cost of production across all produced tonnes from the mine by approximately $20 per tonne. Expansion projects and related ramp-up production are completed on time and as planned. Change in the demand for and viability of the product.
Unexpected outages and turnarounds on the facilities.
Expanded volumes are below target values.
       
Return of 40 to 50 percent of free cash flow to Agrium’s shareholders through dividends and continued increases in dividends and other returns to shareholders. Agrium is able, among other matters, to achieve its performance targets, complete proposed projects on time and on budget, and maintain its investment grade rating. Agrium’s ability to generate free cash flows as planned.

 

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Forward-looking statements Material assumptions Material risk factors
Retail’s $150-million reduction in working capital by end of 2017. There would be no unexpected delays or disruptions in the accounts receivable collection process. Inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations.
Agrium is able to achieve its expected inventory levels through disciplined inventory management. Level and effectiveness of working capital management.
  Acquired businesses will not require higher working capital levels.    
Construction of MOPCO’s additional urea trains, including estimated capacity increase by 2015. No significant interruptions in the construction of two new trains and construction will be completed within the budget. Further delay in the construction, completion and commissioning of the project due to civil unrest in Egypt.
Completion of brownfield project at the Borger facility, including estimated completion date. Necessary permits, utilities and project approvals are secured on time. Labor shortages and/or inefficiency causing schedule delays and/or cost increases.
  EPC resources and shop space are available to meet the project’s fast-track approach.    
Expected increase of percentage share in Canpotex total sales in 2016. Actual production capacities of Agrium and other Canpotex producers would not differ from expected. Agrium’s ability to meet the expected production capacities of its potash facilities.
      Unexpected outages or delays on its major turnarounds.
2015 market outlook including anticipated supply and demand for nitrogen, potash, and phosphate, expected international impact and export, anticipated capacity and price outlook.

Global demand for nitrogen, potash and phosphate will increase.

 

Changes in global requirements or supply for nitrogen, potash, and phosphate.

 

Increase in global grain and oilseed production that will put pressure on crop prices.

Changes in government policies, legislation and regulations that could impose restrictions in exportation.

 

    Changes in global crop production level, general economic, market, business and weather conditions, industry competition and various events that could disrupt operations.
Statements relating to general economic, legal and business conditions, including those referring to capital expenditures and expansion and growth of our business and operations including the development of new markets and products. North American and global economic growth. Changes in general economic, market, business and weather conditions, industry competition and various events that could disrupt operations.
Year-over-year growth in products. Changes in government policies and legislation and regulation, or the interpretation, administration and enforcement thereof, in the jurisdictions in which we operate.
General operating risks associated with investment in foreign jurisdictions.
    Various strategic risks including our ability to effectively implement our business strategy and our risk mitigation strategies.
Statements relating to Agrium’s ability to expand existing sources of financing or to access other sources of financing and to meet debt repayments and future obligations in the foreseeable future, including income tax payments, and capital spending. North American and global economic growth.

Inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations and changes in tax rates that could affect Agrium’s ability to meet obligations.

 

Adequate credit ratios.

 

Level and effectiveness of future capital expenditures.

Investment grade credit rating.

 

Access to capital markets.

 

Adequate cash generated from operations.
       

 

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Forward-looking statements Material assumptions Material risk factors
Statements relating to capital expenditures, existing or planned acquisitions, growth and project performance. Adequate cash is generated from operations and other sources of financing. Integration risks that might cause anticipated synergies from our recent and future acquisitions to be less than expected.
Agrium is able to utilize our available credit facilities or access capital markets for additional sources of financing. Changes in development plans for our expansion, efficiency, debottleneck and other major projects, including the potential for capital construction costs to be higher than expected or construction progress to be delayed due to various factors.
The level of sustaining and investing capital may vary significantly depending on corporate priorities as the year progresses and based on changes in the rate of inflation or engineering costs.
      Potential inability to access or utilize our credit facilities or access capital markets.
Statements relating to our ability to sustain projected potash production with existing reserves and resources, including mine life estimates. Potash reserves are accessible and of sufficient quality to provide the required ore for long-term production. Flooding and/or poor ground conditions limiting access to major sections of the ore body or resulting in poor ore quality.
Statements relating to the supply of our phosphate rock. Commitments agreed with our suppliers. Interruption in the supply of phosphate rock.
      Changes in the terms of agreement with our suppliers.

 

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND NOTES

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

  92   

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

  93   

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

  94   

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

  95   

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

  96   

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  97   
1. CORPORATE INFORMATION   97   
2. BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS   98   
3. DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS   98   
4. EXPENSES   99   
5. FINANCE COSTS   100   
6. INCOME TAXES   100   
7. EARNINGS PER SHARE   101   
8. CASH FLOW INFORMATION   102   
9. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE   102   
10. INVENTORIES   102   
11. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT   103   
12. INTANGIBLES AND GOODWILL   104   
13. INVESTMENTS IN ASSOCIATES AND JOINT VENTURES   106   
14. OTHER ASSETS   109   
15. DEBT   109   
16. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE   110   
17. POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS   110   
18. OTHER PROVISIONS   114   
19. OTHER LIABILITIES   114   
20. SHARE-BASED PAYMENTS   114   
21. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND RISK MANAGEMENT   117   
22. COMMITMENTS   123   
23. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES   124   
24. CAPITAL MANAGEMENT   126   
25. OPERATING SEGMENTS   127   
26. ACCOUNTING POLICIES, JUDGMENTS, ASSUMPTIONS AND ESTIMATES   131   

 

88    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


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FINANCIAL REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES

The audited consolidated financial statements and all information contained in this annual report are the responsibility of management, and the audited consolidated financial statements are approved by the Board of Directors of the Company. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared by management and are presented fairly in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in Canada and reflect management’s best estimates and judgments based on currently available information. The Company has established an internal audit program and accounting and reporting systems supported by internal controls designed to safeguard assets from loss or unauthorized use and ensure the accuracy of the financial records. The financial information presented throughout this annual report is consistent with the consolidated financial statements. KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has been appointed by the shareholders as external auditors of the Company. The Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm to the Shareholders and Board, which describe the scope of their examination and express their opinion, are included in this annual report.

The Audit Committee of the Board, whose members are independent of management, meets at least five times a year with management, the internal auditors and the external auditors to oversee the discharge of the responsibilities of the respective parties. The Audit Committee reviews the independence of the external auditors, pre-approves audit and permitted non-audit services and reviews the consolidated financial statements and other financial disclosure documents before they are presented to the Board for approval.

MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the design and effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this report based on the framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (1992). Based on this evaluation, management concluded that as of December 31, 2014 the Company did maintain effective internal control over financial reporting.

The effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014 was audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included in this 2014 Annual Report to Shareholders.

 

LOGO LOGO

 

Chuck Magro

 

 

Steve Douglas

 

President & Chief Executive Officer Senior Vice President &
Calgary, Canada Chief Financial Officer
February 24, 2015

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    89


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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AGRIUM INC.

We have audited Agrium Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework [1992] issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Agrium Inc.’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, Agrium Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework [1992] issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We also have audited, in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards and the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of Agrium Inc. as at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, cash flows and shareholders’ equity for the years then ended, and our report dated February 24, 2015 expressed an unmodified (unqualified) opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

 

LOGO

 

Chartered Accountants

 

February 24, 2015

Calgary, Canada

 

90    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT OF REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AGRIUM INC.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated financial statements of Agrium Inc., which comprise the consolidated balance sheets as at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, cash flows and shareholders’ equity for the years then ended, and notes, comprising a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

AUDITORS’ RESPONSIBILITY

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards and the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. The procedures selected depend on our judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, we consider internal control relevant to the company’s preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained in our audits is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

OPINION

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Agrium Inc. as at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, and its consolidated financial performance and its consolidated cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

OTHER MATTER

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), Agrium Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on the criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework [1992] issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated February 24, 2015 expressed an unmodified (unqualified) opinion on the effectiveness of Agrium Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

LOGO

 

Chartered Accountants

 

February 24, 2015
Calgary, Canada

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    91


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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Years ended December 31,        
(millions of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts) 2014    2013     

Sales

  16,042       15,727      

Cost of product sold (note 4)

  12,490       11,954      

Gross profit

  3,552       3,773      

Expenses

Selling (note 4)

  2,048       1,876      

General and administrative (note 4)

  349       329      

Earnings from associates and joint ventures (note 13)

  (23)      (68)     

Purchase gain (note 2)

  —       (257)     

Goodwill impairment (note 12)

  —       220      

Other expenses (note 4)

  18       43      

Earnings before finance costs and income taxes

  1,160       1,630      

Finance costs related to long-term debt (note 5)

  62       90      

Other finance costs (note 5)

  70       66      

Earnings before income taxes

  1,028       1,474      

Income taxes (note 6)

  230       394      

Net earnings from continuing operations

  798       1,080      

Net loss from discontinued operations (note 3)

  (78)      (17)     

Net earnings

  720       1,063      

Attributable to:

Equity holders of Agrium

  714       1,062      

Non-controlling interest

       1      

Net earnings

  720       1,063      

Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of Agrium (note 7)

           

Basic and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations

  5.51       7.31      

Basic and diluted loss per share from discontinued operations

  (0.54)      (0.11)     

Basic and diluted earnings per share

  4.97       7.20      

See accompanying notes.

 

92    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

 

Years ended December 31,        
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014    2013     

Net earnings

  720       1,063      

Other comprehensive loss

Items that are or may be reclassified to earnings

Cash flow hedges

Effective portion of changes in fair value

  (36)      —      

Deferred income taxes

       —      

Share of comprehensive loss of associates and joint ventures

  (4)      (4)     

Available for sale financial instruments

Losses

  —       (8)     

Foreign currency translation

Losses

  (341)      (340)     
    (372)      (352)     

Items that will never be reclassified to earnings

Post-employment benefits

Actuarial (losses) gains

  (31)      45      

Deferred income taxes

       (14)     
    (22)      31      

Other comprehensive loss

  (394)      (321)     

Comprehensive income

  326       742      

Attributable to:

Equity holders of Agrium

  320       743      

Non-controlling interest

       (1)     

Comprehensive income

  326       742      

See accompanying notes.

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    93


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CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

 

  December 31,  
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014    2013     

Assets

Current assets

Cash and cash equivalents (note 8)

  848       801      

Accounts receivable (note 9)

  2,075       2,105      

Income taxes receivable

  138       78      

Inventories (note 10)

  3,505       3,413      

Prepaid expenses and deposits

  710       805      

Other current assets (note 14)

  122       104      

Assets held for sale (note 3)

  —       202      
  7,398       7,508      

Property, plant and equipment (note 11)

  6,272       4,960      

Intangibles (note 12)

  695       738      

Goodwill (note 12)

  2,014       1,958      

Investments in associates and joint ventures (note 13)

  576       639      

Other assets (note 14)

  78       99      

Deferred income tax assets (note 6)

  75       75      
    17,108       15,977      

Liabilities and shareholders’ equity

Current liabilities

Short-term debt (note 15)

  1,527       764      

Accounts payable (note 16)

  4,197       3,985      

Income taxes payable

       2      

Current portion of long-term debt (note 15)

  11       58      

Current portion of other provisions (note 18)

  113       112      

Liabilities held for sale (note 3)

  —       44      
  5,853       4,965      

Long-term debt (note 15)

  3,559       3,066      

Post-employment benefits (note 17)

  151       135      

Other provisions (note 18)

  367       426      

Other liabilities (note 19)

  69       59      

Deferred income tax liabilities (note 6)

  422       530      
    10,421       9,181      

Shareholders’ equity

Share capital

  1,821       1,820      

Retained earnings

  5,502       5,253      

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

  (643)      (279)     

Equity holders of Agrium

  6,680       6,794      

Non-controlling interest

       2      

Total equity

  6,687       6,796      
    17,108       15,977      

See accompanying notes

 

94    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

Years ended December 31,        
(millions of U.S. dollars) 2014    2013     

Operating

Net earnings from continuing operations

  798       1,080      

Adjustments for

Depreciation and amortization

  550       472      

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

  (23)      (68)     

Purchase gain

  —       (257)     

Goodwill impairment

  —       220      

Share-based payments

  50       (7)     

Unrealized gain on derivative financial instruments

  (32)      (15)     

Unrealized foreign exchange loss

  56       —      

Interest income

  (83)      ( 76)     

Finance costs

  132       156      

Income taxes

  230       394      

Other

  20       30      

Interest received

  85       77      

Interest paid

  (105)      (140)     

Income taxes paid

  (320)      (663)     

Dividends from associates and joint ventures

  49       28      

Net changes in non-cash working capital (note 8)

  (95)      536      

Cash provided by operating activities

  1,312       1,767      

Investing

Acquisitions, net of cash acquired

  (179)      (64)     

Acquisition of Viterra Inc.

  —       1,260      

Proceeds from disposal of discontinued operations

  94       —      

Capital expenditures

  (2,021)      (1,755)     

Capitalized borrowing costs

  (111)      (61)     

Purchase of investments

  (116)      (171)     

Proceeds from disposal of investments

  123      82      

Other

  (20)      —      

Net changes in non-cash working capital

  162       28      

Cash used in investing activities

  (2,068)      (681)     

Financing

Short-term debt

  845       (511)     

Long-term debt issued

  512       1,010      

Transaction costs on long-term debt

  (8)      (14)     

Repayment of long-term debt

  (64)      (522)     

Dividends paid

  (430)      (334)     

Shares issued

       2      

Shares repurchased

  —       (498)     

Cash provided by (used in) financing activities

  856       (867)     

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

  (35)      (24)     

Increase in cash and cash equivalents from continuing operations

  65       195      

Cash and cash equivalents used in discontinued operations (note 3)

  (18)      (52)     

Cash and cash equivalents – beginning of year

  801       658      

Cash and cash equivalents – end of year (note 8)

  848       801      

See accompanying notes.

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    95


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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

             

Other comprehensive income

             

(millions of U.S. dollars,

except share data)

Millions of

common

shares

 

Share

capital

 

Retained

earnings

 

Cash

flow

hedges

 

Comprehensive

loss of

associates

and joint

ventures

 

Available

for sale

financial

instruments

 

Foreign

currency

translation

  Total  

Equity

holders

of Agrium

 

Non-

controlling
interest

 

Total

equity

 

December 31, 2012

  149       1,890       4,955       —       (3)      —       74       71       6,916            6,920    

Net earnings

  —       —       1,062       —       —       —       —       —       1,062            1,063    

Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax

Post-employment benefits

  —       —       31       —       —       —       —       —       31       —       31    

Other

  —       —       —       —       (4)      (8)      (338)      (350)      (350)      (2)      (352)   

Comprehensive income (loss), net of tax

  —       —       1,093       —       (4)      (8)      (338)      (350)      743       (1)      742    

Dividends

  —       —       (367)      —       —       —       —       —       (367)      —       (367)   

Non-controlling interest transactions

  —       —       (2)      —       —       —       —       —       (2)      (1)      (3)   

Shares repurchased

  (5)      (72)      (426)      —       —       —       —       —       (498)      —       (498)   

Share-based payment transactions

  —            —       —       —       —       —       —            —         

December 31, 2013

  144       1,820       5,253       —       (7)      (8)      (264)      (279)      6,794            6,796    

Net earnings

  —       —       714       —       —       —       —       —       714            720    

Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax

Post-employment benefits

  —       —       (22)      —       —       —       —       —       (22)      —       (22)   

Other

  —       —       —       (27)      (4)      —       (341)      (372)      (372)      —       (372)   

Comprehensive income (loss), net of tax

  —       —       692       (27)      (4)      —       (341)      (372)      320            326    

Dividends

  —       —       (435)      —       —       —       —       —       (435)      —       (435)   

Non-controlling interest transactions

  —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       (1)      (1)   

Shares repurchased

  —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —    

Share-based payment transactions

  —            —       —       —       —       —       —            —         

Impact of adopting IFRS 9 at January 1, 2014

        —       (8)      —       —            —            —       —       —    

December 31, 2014

  144       1,821       5,502       (27)      (11)      —       (605)      (643)      6,680            6,687    

See accompanying notes.

 

96    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


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NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(millions of U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated)

1.    CORPORATE INFORMATION

CORPORATE INFORMATION

Agrium Inc. (“Agrium”) is incorporated under the laws of Canada with common shares listed under the symbol “AGU” on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Our Corporate head office is located at 13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E., Calgary, Canada. We conduct our operations globally from our Wholesale head office in Calgary and our Retail head office in Loveland, Colorado, United States. In these financial statements, “we”, “us”, “our” and “Agrium” mean Agrium Inc., its subsidiaries and joint arrangements.

Agrium operates two business units:

 

Retail: Distributes crop nutrients, crop protection products, seed, merchandise and services directly to growers through a network of farm centers in two geographical segments:
  North America, including the United States and Canada; and
  International, including Australia and South America.

 

Wholesale: Operates in North and South America and Europe producing, marketing and distributing crop nutrients and industrial products through the following businesses:
  Nitrogen: Manufacturing in Alberta, Texas and Argentina;
  Potash: Mining and processing in Saskatchewan;
  Phosphate: Mining and production facilities in Alberta and Idaho;
  Product purchased for resale: Marketing nutrient products from other suppliers in North and South America and Europe; and
  Ammonium sulfate, ESN® and other: Producing blended crop nutrients and ESN®, (Environmentally Smart Nitrogen) polymer-coated nitrogen crop nutrients.

Additional information on our operating segments is included in note 25.

Principal subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures

  

Relationship/

Ownership (%)

Location Principal activity

Method of

accounting

Agrium, a general partnership

Subsidiary, 100% Canada

Manufacturer and distributor of crop nutrients

Consolidation

Agrium Europe S.A.

Subsidiary, 100% Belgium

Distributor of crop nutrients

Consolidation

Agrium U.S. Inc.

Subsidiary, 100% United States

Manufacturer and distributor of crop nutrients

Consolidation

Agroservicios Pampeanos S.A.

Subsidiary, 100% Argentina Crop input retailer Consolidation

Crop Production Services, Inc.

Subsidiary, 100% United States Crop input retailer Consolidation

Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc.

Subsidiary, 100% Canada Crop input retailer Consolidation

Landmark Rural Operations Ltd.

Subsidiary, 100% Australia Crop input retailer Consolidation

Loveland Products Inc.

Subsidiary, 100% United States

Crop input developer and retailer

Consolidation

Misr Fertilizers Production Company S.A.E.

Associate, 26% Egypt

Manufacturer and distributor of crop nutrients

Equity method    

Profertil S.A.

Joint venture, 50% Argentina

Manufacturer and distributor of crop nutrients

Equity method

 

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BASIS OF PREPARATION AND STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE

We prepared these financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”). The Board of Directors of Agrium (“the Board”) approved these consolidated financial statements for issuance on February 24, 2015.

The presentation currency of these financial statements is U.S. dollars. We prepared the financial statements using the historical cost basis, with the exception of items that IFRS requires us to measure at fair value. Our significant accounting policies, judgments, assumptions and estimates are described in note 26.

2.    BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS

Provisional estimate of fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in individually immaterial business acquisitions by the Retail business unit

 

Current assets

  21   

Property, plant and equipment

  43   

Intangibles (a)

  55   

Goodwill (b)

  87   

Current liabilities

  (27

Total consideration

  179   

 

(a) Intangibles include customer relationships of $27-million and trade names of $4-million.
(b) The full amount allocated to goodwill is deductible for income tax purposes.

On the above acquisitions, we recognized goodwill of $87-million arising primarily from the acquired workforce and estimated value of expected synergies between Agrium and the acquired operations. Acquisition costs of $1-million are included in other expenses. Sales for the period from the date of acquisition to December 31, 2014 were $61-million and are included in our consolidated statement of operations. If the acquisition had occurred on January 1, 2014, we estimate that our sales for the year ended December 31, 2014 would have been $192-million. Net earnings and proforma net earnings related to these acquisitions are not material.

In 2014, we increased our interest in Agricen LLC from 30 percent to 70 percent. Upon acquiring control of Agricen, we re-measured our previously held equity interest to fair value. The resulting gain of $9-million is included in other expenses. On this transaction we recognized goodwill of $82-million, which is included in the table above.

2013 – VITERRA INC.

We completed the acquisition of 100 percent of certain Canadian and Australian Agri-products assets of Viterra Inc. from Glencore International plc on October 1, 2013. In 2013, we recorded a purchase gain of $257-million for the excess of the fair value of the acquired net assets over the purchase price. We finalized the purchase price allocation for the acquisition in March 2014 without change to the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed as disclosed at December 31, 2013.

3.    DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

AGRIUM ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES (“AAT”)

Discontinued operations consist of operations of the major businesses of our former Advanced Technologies business unit. During 2014, we completed the sale of the Turf and Ornamental business of AAT for $94-million. The remaining components of AAT ceased operations in 2014.

Discontinued operations

   2014   2013  

Sales

  251      307   

Net loss, net of tax recovery of $28 (2013 – $6)

  (78   (17

Cash used in operating activities

  (18   (52

Net loss on discontinued operations is net of expenses of $301-million (2013 – $267-million) and includes loss on measurement of assets held for sale of $56-million (2013 – $63-million) and income tax recovery of $28-million (2013 – $6-million).

 

98    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


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4.    EXPENSES

We present expenses in our statements of operations by function. IFRS also requires us to provide information about expenses by nature.

Expenses by nature

   2014   2013  

Decrease (increase) in finished goods inventory

  73      (75

Purchased and produced raw materials and product for resale

  12,770      12,278   

Rebates

  (1,059   (942

Freight and distribution

  479      449   

Short-term employee benefits (a)

  1,382      1,398   

Post-employment benefits (b)

  64      65   

Share-based payments (c)

  50      (7

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

  423      373   

Amortization of intangibles

  127      95   

Other depreciation and amortization

       4   

Operating leases

  226      225   

Other

  352      296   
    14,887      14,159   

Classified as:

Cost of product sold

  12,490      11,954   

Selling

  2,048      1,876   

General and administrative

  349      329   
    14,887      14,159   

Compensation of key management personnel included in the above:

(a) 2014 – $17-million (2013 – $16-million).
(b) 2014 – $2-million (2013 – $3-million).
(c) 2014 – $15-million (2013 – $(5)-million).

Other expenses

   2014   2013  

Gain on commodity derivatives not designated as hedges (note 21)

  (18   (11

Gain on foreign exchange derivatives not designated as hedges (note 21)

  (92   (5

Foreign exchange loss

  125      43   

Interest income

  (83   (76

Environmental remediation and asset retirement obligations

  24      7   

Bad debt expense

  19      9   

Potash profit and capital tax

  10      21   

Other

  33      55   
    18      43   

 

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5.    FINANCE COSTS

Finance costs related to long-term debt

      2014      2013  

Gross finance costs related to long-term debt

     173         151   

Less: Capitalized borrowing costs

     111         61   
       62         90   

Capitalized borrowing costs primarily relate to the expansion of our Vanscoy potash and Borger nitrogen facilities, capitalized at a rate of 5 percent (2013 – 5 percent).

Other finance costs

      2014      2013  

Accretion of environmental remediation and asset retirement obligations

     12         11   

Other interest expense

     58         55   
       70         66   

6.    INCOME TAXES

Components of income taxes

      2014     2013  

Current tax expense

     266        511   

Previously unrecognized tax assets

     (10     (6

Current income taxes

     256        505   

Origination and reversal of temporary differences

     6        (111

Previously unrecognized tax assets

     (32       

Deferred income taxes

     (26     (111
       230        394   

 

Reconciliation of statutory tax rate to effective tax rate

    
      2014     2013  

Earnings before income taxes

    

Canada

     266        789   

Foreign

     762        685   
     1,028        1,474   

Statutory rate (%)

     26        26   

Income taxes at statutory rate

     264        378   

Purchase gain

            (68

Goodwill impairment

            66   

Foreign currency gains (losses) relating to Canadian operations

     1        (20

Differences in foreign tax rates

     25        42   

Earnings from associates and joint ventures

     (9     (14

Recognition of previously unrecognized tax assets

     (42     (6

Other

     (9     16   

Income taxes

     230        394   

Current

    

Canada

     37        138   

Foreign

     219        367   
       256        505   

Deferred

    

Canada

     19        (28

Foreign

     (45     (83
       (26     (111
       230        394   

 

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Components of deferred income tax                                            
     Components of deferred
income tax liabilities (assets)
    Components recognized
in earnings
    Components not recognized
in earnings
 
        2014     2013     2014 (b)      2013     2014     2013  

Receivables, inventories and accrued liabilities

     (115     (138     20          (71     3        (8

Property, plant and equipment

     457        457        26          64        (26     7   

Intangibles

     138        173        (29)         (29     (6     35   

Asset retirement and environmental remediation provisions

     (145     (156             4        4          

Deferred partnership income

     119        187        (56)         (60     (12     (15

Loss carry-forwards (a)

     (59     (66             (11     6        14   

Other

     (48     (2     (28)         (8     (18     19   

Net deferred income tax liabilities (assets)

     347        455        (59)         (111     (49     52   

Deferred income tax assets

     (75     (75         

Deferred income tax liabilities

     422        530            

Net deferred income tax liabilities

     347        455                                    
(a) Unused tax losses of $57-million (2013 – $58-million) expiring through 2034 (2013 – expiring through 2033) have not been recognized in the financial statements. We have recognized unused tax losses of $53-million (2013 – $51-million) as we expect that we will earn future taxable income in that tax jurisdiction in 2015 and following years, and the tax losses do not expire under current tax legislation.
(b) Components recognized in continuing operations and discontinued operations.

7.    EARNINGS PER SHARE

 

Attributable to equity holders of Agrium             
      2014     2013  

Numerator

    

Net earnings from continuing operations

     792        1,079   

Net loss from discontinued operations

     (78     (17

Net earnings

     714        1,062   

Denominator (millions)

    

Weighted average number of shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share

     144        148   

 

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8.    CASH FLOW INFORMATION

 

Cash and cash equivalents               
     December 31,  
      2014     2013  

Cash

     787        763   

Short-term investments (original maturity of three months or less)

     61        38   
       848        801   
Net changes in non-cash operating working capital               
      2014     2013  

Accounts receivable

     14        166   

Inventories

     (185     46   

Prepaid expenses and deposits

     84        (34

Accounts payable

     (8     358   
       (95     536   

 

9.    ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

    
     December 31,  
      2014     2013  

Trade accounts

     1,849        1,948   

Allowance for doubtful accounts

     (79     (78

Rebates

     188        170   

Other non-trade accounts

     58        33   

Derivative financial instruments

     33        1   

Other taxes

     26        31   
       2,075        2,105   

 

10.  INVENTORIES

    
     December 31,  
      2014     2013  

Raw materials

     409        409   

Finished goods

     346        419   

Other product for resale (a)

     2,750        2,585   
       3,505        3,413   
(a) Includes biological assets of $35-million (2013 – $18-million) measured at fair value less costs of disposal, a level 3 measurement.

 

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11.  PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

 

December 31, 2014                                           
      Land     Buildings and
improvements
    Machinery
and equipment
    Assets under
construction
    Other     Total  

Cost

            

December 31, 2013

     140        1,313        3,650        2,460        157        7,720   

Additions

     4        14        510        1,563        16        2,107   

Business acquisitions

     1        11        31                      43   

Disposals

     (3     (8     (134            (2     (147

Transfers

            41        170        (238     27          

Other adjustments

            (1     28        (52            (25

Foreign currency translation

     (5     (63     (239     (231     (8     (546

December 31, 2014

     137        1,307        4,016        3,502        190        9,152   

Accumulated depreciation

            

December 31, 2013

            (517     (2,186            (57     (2,760

Depreciation

            (81     (326            (8     (415

Disposals

            4        107               2        113   

Other adjustments

            2        11                      13   

Foreign currency translation

            26        140               3        169   

December 31, 2014

            (566     (2,254            (60     (2,880

Net book value

     137        741        1,762        3,502        130        6,272   
December 31, 2013                                           
      Land     Buildings and
improvements
    Machinery
and equipment
    Assets under
construction
    Other     Total  

Cost

            

December 31, 2012

     114        1,170        3,408        1,269        148        6,109   

Additions

     4        82        207        1,558        22        1,873   

Business acquisitions

     30        100        202        8               340   

Disposals

     (2     (42     (145            (12     (201

Other adjustments (a)

     (4     38        140        (267     4        (89

Foreign currency translation

     (2     (35     (162     (108     (5     (312

December 31, 2013

     140        1,313        3,650        2,460        157        7,720   

Accumulated depreciation

            

December 31, 2012

            (484     (2,078            (63     (2,625

Depreciation

            (91     (284            (9     (384

Disposals

            34        63               12        109   

Other adjustments (a)

            8        18                      26   

Foreign currency translation

            16        95               3        114   

December 31, 2013

            (517     (2,186            (57     (2,760

Net book value

     140        796        1,464        2,460        100        4,960   
(a) Includes assets classified as held for sale with a net book value of $26-million.

 

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Depreciation of property, plant and equipment             
      2014     2013  

Cost of product sold

     226        198   

Selling

     175        141   

General and administrative

     22        34   
       423        373   

Depreciation recorded in inventory

     10        19   
Turnaround costs included in machinery and equipment               
      2014     2013  

Cost

    

Balance, beginning of year

     180        113   

Additions

     89        83   

Retirements

     (23     (16

Balance, end of year

     246        180   

Accumulated depreciation

    

Balance, beginning of year

     (61     (42

Depreciation

     (55     (35

Retirements

     22        16   

Balance, end of year

     (94     (61

Net book value

     152        119   

Turnaround costs include replacement or overhaul of equipment and items such as compressors, turbines, pumps, motors, valves, piping and other parts; assessment of production equipment; replacement of aged catalysts; new installation or recalibration of measurement and control devices; and other costs. We capitalize turnaround costs only if they meet the capitalization criteria of International Accounting Standard (“IAS”) 16.

12.  INTANGIBLES AND GOODWILL

 

December 31, 2014                                           
      Trade
names 
(a)
    Customer
relationships 
(b)
    Technology     Other     Total
intangibles
    Goodwill  

Cost

            

December 31, 2013

     30        730        162        205        1,127        2,177   

Additions

                   49        2        51          

Business acquisitions

     4        27               24        55        87   

Disposals

                   (1            (1       

Other adjustments

            (3            (1     (4     (14

Foreign currency translation

     (2     (15     (13     (3     (33     (36

December 31, 2014

     32        739        197        227        1,195        2,214   

Accumulated amortization and impairment losses

            

December 31, 2013

     (3     (241     (48     (97     (389     (219

Amortization

     (1     (64     (36     (27     (128       

Other adjustments

            4        (1     1        4          

Foreign currency translation

            4        7        2        13        19   

December 31, 2014

     (4     (297     (78     (121     (500     (200

Net book value

     28        442        119        106        695        2,014   
(a) Trade names with a net book value of $20-million have indefinite useful lives for accounting purposes.
(b) The remaining amortization period of customer relationships at December 31, 2014, is approximately nine years.

 

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December 31, 2013                                           
      Trade
names (a)
    Customer
relationships
    Technology     Other     Total
intangibles
    Goodwill  

Cost

            

December 31, 2012

     57        667        99        175        998        2,349   

Additions

                   35        2        37          

Business acquisitions

            115        62        45        222        3   

Disposals

                   (1     (14     (15       

Other adjustments (b)

     (23     (40     (23     (2     (88     (115

Foreign currency translation

     (4     (12     (10     (1     (27     (60

December 31, 2013

     30        730        162        205        1,127        2,177   

Accumulated amortization and impairment losses

            

December 31, 2012

     (12     (209     (57     (84     (362       

Amortization

     (2     (59     (16     (25     (102       

Impairment losses

                                        (220

Disposals

                   1        11        12          

Other adjustments (b)

     9        24        18        1        52          

Foreign currency translation

     2        3        6               11        1   

December 31, 2013

     (3     (241     (48     (97     (389     (219

Net book value

     27        489        114        108        738        1,958   
(a) Trade names with a net book value of $22-million have indefinite useful lives for accounting purposes.
(b) Includes assets classified as held for sale with a net book value of $91-million.

 

Amortization of finite-lived intangibles              
      2014      2013  

Cost of product sold

     3         3   

Selling

     116         81   

General and administrative

     8         11   
       127         95   

GOODWILL IMPAIRMENT TESTING

In calculating the recoverable amount, we selected fair value less costs of disposal (“FVLCD”) methodology and incorporated assumptions that an independent market participant would apply. We adjust discount rates for each group of cash generating units (“CGU”) for the risk associated with achieving our forecasts and for the currency in which we expect to generate cash flows. FVLCD is a level 3 measurement. We use our market capitalization and comparative market multiples to corroborate discounted cash flow results.

 

Goodwill by cash generating unit                
     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Retail – North America

     1,859         1,770   

Retail – Australia

     124         136   

Other

     31         52   
       2,014         1,958   

 

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The assumptions and other factors that have the greatest influence on our calculation of the recoverable amounts are:

 

Discount rate, based on a capital asset pricing model using observable market data inputs;

 

Long-term growth rate, which does not exceed the long-term projected growth rates for the relevant business unit, country or market in which the CGU or groups of CGUs operate;

 

Earnings before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), which is primarily driven by:
  Sales growth rates, based on results over the past five years and our internal forecasts for the next five years;
  Crop input price benchmarks, based on internal and external market information;
  Profit margins, based on past experience and adjusted for expected changes; and
  Operating costs as a percentage of gross profit.

 

Capital expenditures;

 

The interrelationships between sales, cost of product sold and working capital; and

 

Achievement of cost savings from acquisitions.

 

Retail – Australia assumptions used in impairment testing        

Pre-tax discount rate (%)

     10.7   

Terminal growth rate per annum (%)

     2.5   

Excess of recoverable amount over carrying amount

     61   

Change that would result in carrying amount equal to recoverable amount

  

Increase in pre-tax discount rate (%)

     0.8   

Decrease in long-term growth rate (%)

     (0.6

Decrease in forecasted EBITDA growth over forecast period (%)

     (1.8

Key inputs to our test of Retail – North America included a pre-tax discount rate of 11.4 percent and a terminal growth rate per annum of 2.5 percent. We do not believe that a reasonably possible change in any assumptions used in our calculation of the recoverable amount of Retail – North America would result in a recoverable amount being equal to the carrying amount.

Our annual impairment tests of goodwill determined that impairment did not exist in 2014. In 2013, we recorded an impairment charge of $220-million for Retail – Australia.

13.  INVESTMENTS IN ASSOCIATES AND JOINT VENTURES

 

Investments in associates and joint ventures                
     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Investments in associates

     338         367   

Investments in joint ventures

     238         272   
       576         639   

ASSOCIATES

 

Investments in associates                                        
                             December 31,  
      Reporting period      Interest (%)      Location      2014      2013  

Misr Fertilizers Production Company S.A.E. (“MOPCO”), a private nitrogen producer

     September 30         26         Egypt         264         289   

Agricen LLC (formerly Advanced Microbial Solutions, L.L.C.) (a)

     November 30         30         U.S.                 31   

Other

                                74         47   
                                  338         367   
(a) In 2014, we acquired an additional 40 percent equity interest in Agricen LLC. As a result, we have obtained control of and consolidated the entity.

 

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Future conditions, including conditions related to the fact that MOPCO operates in Egypt, which has been subject to political instability and civil unrest, may restrict our ability to obtain dividends from MOPCO.

We have representation on MOPCO’s Board of Directors as well as employees who participate in management decision-making. Accordingly, we maintain significant influence over MOPCO. We record our share of the earnings of MOPCO on a one-quarter lag because financial statements of MOPCO are not available on the date of issuance of our financial statements. We adjust for the effects of any significant unrecorded transactions or events between the period-end date of MOPCO and our fiscal year end date.

 

Summarized financial information of MOPCO               
     December 31,  
      2014     2013  

Current assets

     72        142   

Non-current assets

     1,706        1,673   
       1,778        1,815   

Current liabilities

     214        116   

Non-current liabilities

     773        826   
       987        942   

Net assets of MOPCO

     791        873   

Proportionate ownership interest in MOPCO

     206        227   

Unamortized purchase price adjustment

     58        62   

Carrying amount of interest in MOPCO

     264        289   
      2014     2013  

Sales

     155        258   

Net earnings

     10        78   

Total comprehensive income

     10        78   

Proportionate share of MOPCO income

     3        20   

Purchase price adjustment amortization

     (4     (3

(Loss) earnings from MOPCO

     (1     17   

We own a one-third interest in Canpotex Limited, which exports the portion of our produced potash that Canpotex sells outside of Canada and the United States. Canpotex is an industry association owned equally by us and two other producers of potash in Canada. We have significant influence through our ability to appoint directors to the board of Canpotex. We account for our investment based on our economic interest of approximately 8 percent, which is our allocation of production capacity among the members of the association.

We are contractually obligated to reimburse Canpotex for our 8 percent share of any operating losses or other liabilities incurred by Canpotex. We believe that the probability of conditions arising that would trigger this guarantee is remote. Reimbursements, if any, are made from reductions of our cash receipts from Canpotex.

JOINT VENTURES

 

Investments in joint ventures                                      
     Reporting period      Interest (%)      Location    December 31,  
                            2014      2013  

Profertil S.A. (“Profertil”)

     December 31         50       Argentina      234         268   

Other

                            4         4   
                              238         272   

We have a 50 percent ownership interest in Profertil (a joint venture with YPF S.A. (“YPF”)), a corporation based in Argentina. Profertil is a producer and wholesale distributor of nitrogen crop nutrients. A contractual agreement between Agrium and YPF establishes joint control over Profertil and provides us with 50 percent of the voting rights. The Central Bank of Argentina has imposed restrictions on allowing U.S. dollar funds to leave Argentina in the form of dividends or loan payments. Profertil has declared dividends to us that we have loaned back to the joint venture. The loans, which are unsecured and due in 2016, total $89-million (2013 – $102-million) of which $76-million bears interest at 4.6 percent. We received $44-million of cash dividends during 2014 (2013 – $23-million).

 

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Summarized financial information of Profertil               
     December 31,  
      2014     2013  

Current assets (a)

     226        302   

Non-current assets

     630        545   
       856        847   

Current liabilities (b)

     228        334   

Non-current liabilities (c)

     308        181   
       536        515   

Net assets of Profertil

     320        332   

Proportionate share of net assets of Profertil

     160        166   

Elimination of unrealized profit

     (1     (1

Loans and accrued interest (d)

     76        102   

Other

     (1     1   

Carrying amount of interest in Profertil

     234        268   
(a) Includes cash and cash equivalents of $106-million (December 31, 2013 – $138-million).
(b) Includes current financial liabilities (excluding trade and other payables and provisions) of $70-million (December 31, 2013 – $108-million).
(c) Includes non-current financial liabilities (excluding trade and other payables and provisions) of $220-million (December 31, 2013 – $89-million).
(d) Dividends receivable of $13-million (2013 – nil) are included in accounts receivable.

 

      2014      2013  

Sales

     469         561   

Depreciation and amortization

     30         32   

Interest expense

     7         1   

Income taxes

     42         73   

Net earnings

     37         85   

Total comprehensive income

     37         85   

Proportionate share of Profertil income

     18         43   

Dividends received from Profertil

     44         23   

Summarized financial information of associates and joint ventures represents amounts that investees have recorded in their financial statements, adjusted for any fair value adjustments at acquisition and for differences in accounting policies.

TRANSACTIONS WITH ASSOCIATES AND JOINT VENTURES

 

      2014      2013  

For the year ended December 31,

     

Sales to Canpotex

     180         236   

Purchases from MOPCO

     25         46   

Purchases from Profertil

     67         78   

As at December 31,

     

Amounts owed to Profertil

     4         17   

 

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14.  OTHER ASSETS

 

Other current assets                
     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Other financial assets

     

Marketable securities (a)

     94         104   

Other

     28           
       122         104   
Other assets                
     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Other financial assets

     

Investments

     4         12   

Receivables (b)

     65         62   
     69         74   

Other non-financial assets

     9         25   
       78         99   
(a) Comprised primarily of U.S. equities (16 percent), U.S. Government debt (28 percent), U.S. corporate debt (37 percent), international corporate debt (7 percent) and Canadian corporate debt (6 percent). All securities are rated as investment grade or higher and are capable of liquidation within five trading days.
(b) Unsecured term loan receivable bearing interest at 3.4 percent per annum, repayable $11-million annually until 2020.

15.  DEBT

 

                   December 31,  
                         2014        2013   
      Maturity      Rate (%) (a)      Utilized     Utilized  

Short-term debt

          

Commercial paper (b)

     2015         0.47         1,117        503   

Credit facilities (c)(d)

              2.81         410        261   
                         1,527        764   

Long-term debt

          

Floating rate bank loans

     2015            11        62   

Fixed rate bank loans

     2016            12          

7.7% debentures (e)

     2017            100        100   

6.75% debentures (e)

     2019            500        500   

3.15% debentures (e)

     2022            500        500   

3.5% debentures (e)

     2023            500        500   

7.8% debentures (e)

     2027            125        125   

7.125% debentures (e)

     2036            300        300   

6.125% debentures (e)

     2041            500        500   

4.9% debentures (e)

     2043            500        500   

5.25% debentures (e)

     2045            500          

Other

                       64        73   
           3,612        3,160   

Unamortized transaction costs

           (42     (36

Current portion of long-term debt

                       (11     (58
                         3,559        3,066   
(a) Weighted average rates at December 31, 2014.
(b) Program maximum U.S. $2.5-billion. Amounts borrowed under the commercial paper program reduce our borrowing capacity under the multi-jurisdictional facility.
(c) Short-term debt is unsecured and consists of U.S. dollar-denominated debt of $274-million, euro-denominated debt of $109-million and other debt of $27-million (2013 – $52-million, $180-million and $29-million).
(d) Total capacity available on our multi-jurisdictional revolving credit facility, which expires in 2019, is $2.5-billion.
(e) Debentures have various provisions that allow redemption prior to maturity, at our option, at specified prices.

 

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Debt capacity available        
     December 31,  
      2014  

Multi-jurisdictional facility

     2,500   

European facilities

     242   

South American facilities

     125   

Australian facilities

     22   
     2,889   

Short-term debt drawn

     (1,527

Letters of credit issued

     (1

Debt capacity available

     1,361   

16.  ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

 

     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Trade

     1,470         1,418   

Customer prepayments

     1,505         1,420   

Accrued liabilities

     921         838   

Other taxes

     25         33   

Accrued interest

     53         48   

Dividends

     112         108   

Derivative financial instruments

     18         2   

Share-based payments

     93         118   
       4,197         3,985   

17.  POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

 

     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Defined benefit pension plan obligations

     73         66   

Other post-employment benefit plan obligations

     78         69   
       151         135   

Agrium’s defined benefit pension plans provide pension benefits at retirement based on years of service and final average salary contributions. We sponsor post-employment pension and medical plans subject to broadly similar regulatory frameworks in Canada and the United States. For funded plans, we contribute to trustee-administered plans that are legally separate from Agrium. Regulations in each country govern the administration of assets that we hold in trust for the plans. We are responsible for governance, which includes oversight of all aspects of the plans, including investment and contribution decisions. Our pension committee assists in managing the plans, including the appointment of independent trustees, actuaries and investment professionals. Fewer than 15 percent of our employees are members of defined benefit pension plans. Entitlement to benefits is generally conditional on the employee remaining in service for a minimum period or reaching a specified age. We engage a qualified actuary to perform calculations of our net benefit obligations using the projected unit credit method.

Post-employment benefit plans expose us to actuarial risks such as longevity risk, interest rate risk and market (investment) risk. We fund the cost of the registered and qualified defined benefit pension plans based on minimum statutory requirements. Our contributions include the cost of any current year accrual and any amortized payments relating to past service. We have the right to increase contributions beyond the minimum requirement. We do not fund the majority of pension obligations for executive plans. Employees cannot contribute to the defined benefit pension plans. The estimated contribution to fund our defined benefit plans for 2015 is $8-million.

 

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Continuity of plan assets and obligations                    
  Defined benefit
pension plans
 

Other post-employment

benefit plans

 
   2014   2013   2014   2013  

Change in plan obligations

Balance, beginning of year

  324      302      69      77   

Obligations associated with business acquisitions

       44             

Foreign currency translation on Canadian obligations

  (19   (12   (4   (4

Employee contributions

            1      1   

Interest cost

  14      12      3      3   

Service cost

  6      8      3      3   

Actuarial (gain) loss arising from liability experience adjustments

  (2   5             

Actuarial loss (gain) arising from changes in demographic assumptions

  10      7      (2   2   

Actuarial loss (gain) arising from changes in financial assumptions

  38      (31   11      (10

Benefits paid

  (17   (11   (3   (3

Balance, end of year

  354      324      78      69   

Arising from:

Funded plans

  299      272             

Unfunded plans

  55      52      78      69   
    354      324      78      69   

Change in plan assets

Fair value, beginning of year

  258      195             

Assets associated with business acquisitions

       43             

Foreign currency translation on Canadian assets

  (14   (7          

Return on plan assets – interest

  11      8             

Return on plan assets – excluding interest

  24      18             

Employer contributions

  16      13             

Employee contributions

            1      1   

Benefits paid

  (14   (12   (1   (1

Fair value, end of year

  281      258             

Unfunded status and provision for post-employment benefits

  73      66      78      69   

Present value of defined benefit obligation

  432      393   

Fair value of plan assets

  281      258   

Deficit in the plans

  151      135   

 

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Actuarial calculations of expense        
   2014   2013  

Defined benefit pension plans

Service cost for benefits earned during the year

  6      8   

Interest cost on accrued benefit obligations

  3      5   

Expected return on plan assets

       (1

Net amortization and deferral

       2   

Other

  1        

Net expense

  10      14   

Other post-employment benefit plans

Service cost for benefits earned during the year

  3      3   

Interest cost on accrued benefit obligations

  3      3   

Net expense

  6      6   

Defined contribution pension plans

  57      56   

Total expense

  73      76   
Expense line items        
   2014   2013  

Cost of product sold

  38      39   

General and administrative

  26      26   

Other expenses

  3      6   

Other finance costs

  6      5   
    73      76   
Actuarial loss (gain) recognized in other comprehensive income        
   2014   2013  

Cumulative balance, beginning of year

  42      87   

Actuarial loss (gain) recognized during the year

  31      (45

Cumulative balance, end of year

  73      42   

ASSUMPTIONS AND SENSITIVITIES

 

Actuarial assumptions (percent)                    
  Future benefits obligation   Future benefits expense  
(expressed as weighted averages) 2014   2013   2014   2013  

Defined benefit pension plans

Discount rate

  4      5      5      4   

Expected long-term rate of return on assets

  N/A      N/A      6      6   

Rate of increase in compensation levels

  3      4      4      4   

Other post-employment benefit plans

Discount rate

  4      5      5      4   

We base the rate used to discount liabilities on high-quality (minimum rating of AA) fixed income investments with cash flows that match the currency, timing and amount of the expected cash flows of the plans. We base the expected long-term rate of return on assets on long-term expectations of inflation, along with the expected long-term real return for each asset class, weighted in accordance with the stated investment policy for the plans. We base expectations of real returns and inflation on a combination of current market conditions, historical capital market data and future expectations. We base assumptions about life expectancy on actuarial mortality tables published in Canada and the United States.

 

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Assumed and ultimate health care cost trend rates        
   2014   2013  

Health care cost trend rate assumed for the next fiscal year (%)

  7      7   

Ultimate health care cost trend rate (%)

  5      5   

Fiscal year the rate reaches the ultimate trend rate

  2021      2018   
Mortality assumptions per latest available standard mortality tables        
   2014   2013  

Average life expectancy – currently aged 65 years (2013 – 65 years)

Male

  22      21   

Female

  24      23   
Sensitivity analysis          
  Defined benefit obligation  
   Increase   Decrease  

Discount rate – impact of 1% movement

  (59   72   

Health care cost trend rate – impact of 1% movement

  12      (9

Longevity – impact of one year increase in life expectancy

  11      N/A   

Per capita claims cost – impact of 1% movement

  1      (1
Duration of benefit obligation (years)        
   2014   2013  

Active members

  18      17   

Retired members

  11      10   

Average duration of the benefit obligation

  14      13   

ASSET ALLOCATION AND INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Our investment objective for our defined benefit plans is to maximize long-term return on plan assets using a mix of equities and fixed income investments while managing an appropriate level of risk. It is our policy not to invest in commodities, precious metals, mineral rights, bullion or collectibles. We may use derivative financial instruments to create a desirable asset mix position, adjust the duration of a fixed income portfolio, replicate the investment performance of interest rates or a recognized capital market index, manage currency exposure and reduce risk. We do not use derivative financial instruments to create exposures to securities that our investment policy would not permit.

 

Defined benefit plans – asset allocation               
  Target allocation   Plan assets  
Asset categories (percent) 2015   2014   2013  

Equity securities

  54   

Canadian equity funds

  15      21   

U.S. equity funds

  24      23   

International equity funds

  13      12   

Emerging market equity funds

  3      3   

Debt securities

  44   

Canadian debt securities

  31      28   

U.S. debt securities

  12      11   

Cash and other

  2      2      2   

 

Defined benefit plans – effective date of most recent valuation for funding purposes        
   Current effective date   Next required date  

Canadian plans

  December 31, 2011      December 31, 2014   
  December 31, 2013      December 31, 2016   

U.S. plans

  January 1, 2014      January 1, 2015   

 

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18.  OTHER PROVISIONS

 

December 31, 2014                             
      Environmental
remediation 
(a)
    Asset
retirement 
(b)
    Litigation     Total  

December 31, 2013

     165        314        59        538   

Additional provisions or changes in estimates (note 23)

     29        (33     16        12   

Draw-downs

     (22     (12     (18     (52

Reversals

            (1     (16     (17

Accretion

     3        9               12   

Other adjustments

     (1     5               4   

Foreign currency translation

     (5     (11     (1     (17

December 31, 2014

     169        271        40        480   

Current portion

     59        14        40        113   

Non-current portion

     110        257               367   
       169        271        40        480   
(a) We estimate that we will settle our environmental remediation liabilities between 2015 and 2038. We discount obligations using rates ranging from 0.65 percent to 4.19 percent (2013 – 0.65 percent to 4.50 percent). Provisions include $44-million for our Idaho phosphate mining and processing sites. No individual site provision is material.
(b) Mining, extraction, processing and distribution activities result in asset retirement obligations in the normal course of operations. Obligations include closure, dismantlement, site restoration or other legal or constructive obligations for termination and retirement of assets. Expenditures may occur before and after closure. We expect to incur expenditures for the obligations over the next 40 years with the exception of those for our potash operations, which we expect to occur after 100 years. Timing of expenditures depends on a number of factors, such as the life and nature of the asset, legal requirements and technology. We estimate obligations using discount rates ranging from 1.57 percent to 4.55 percent (2013 – 1.57 percent to 4.55 percent). Provisions include $128-million for our Idaho phosphate mining and processing sites. No other site provision is material.

19.  OTHER LIABILITIES

 

      December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Other financial liabilities

     

Derivative financial instruments

     22           

Other

     17         24   
     39         24   

Other non-financial liabilities

     

Share-based payments

     30         35   
       69         59   

20.  SHARE-BASED PAYMENTS

 

Plan features                         
Form of payment   Eligibility   Granted   Vesting period   Term   Settlement
Stock Options and Tandem Stock Appreciation Rights (“TSARs”)   Officers and employees   Annually   25% per year over four years   10 years   Cash or shares at holder’s discretion
Stock Appreciation Rights (“SARs”)   Certain employees outside Canada   Annually   25% per year over four years   10 years   Cash
Performance Share Units (“PSUs”)   Executive officers and other eligible employees   Annually   On the third anniversary of the grant date   N/A   Cash
Director Deferred Share Units (“DSUs”)   Directors   At the discretion of the Board of Directors   Fully vested upon grant   N/A   In cash on director’s departure from the Board

 

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We grant stock-based compensation to employees and directors under our Stock Option Plan in accordance with our compensation policies. Cash settlement of TSARs and SARs allows a holder to choose to receive the price of our shares on the NYSE on the date of exercise in excess of the exercise price of the right. Our past experience and future expectation is that substantially all option holders will elect to exercise their options as a SAR, surrendering their options and receiving settlement in cash.

Each PSU confers a right to receive a cash payment of the fair market value of a common share of Agrium at the vesting date. Holders of all forms of share-based payments are entitled to the value of dividends paid on common shares in the form of additional rights or units. The Board may grant DSUs to non-executive directors, and directors may elect to receive a portion or all of their director’s fees in DSUs.

STOCK OPTION AND STOCK APPRECIATION RIGHTS PLANS

 

Stock option and SAR activity (number of units in thousands; weighted average price in U.S. dollars)       
  2014   2013  
   Units   Exercise price   Units   Exercise price  

Outstanding, beginning of year

  2,592      65.62      2,529      53.45   

Granted

  582      90.53      518      101.17   

Forfeited

  (44   95.37      (18   99.98   

Exercised

  (940   41.23      (427   34.68   

Expired

  (5   98.96      (10   86.72   

Outstanding, end of year (a)

  2,185      82.06      2,592      65.62   

Exercisable, end of year

  1,204      73.05      1,890      55.22   

Maximum available for future grants, end of year

  5,208      783   

Cash received from equity-settled awards

        1            2   

Weighted average fair value of outstanding

  33.42      40.26   

Weighted average share price at exercise date

        96.39            99.55   
(a) Includes 1.694 million options with attached stock appreciation rights (2013 – 2.183 million).

 

Stock options and SARs outstanding                    
(number of units in thousands; weighted average remaining contractual life in years; weighted average exercise price in U.S. dollars)  
At December 31, 2014

Options outstanding

  Options exercisable  
Range of exercise prices Remaining
contractual life
  Units   Exercise
price
  Units   Exercise
price
 

Less than $68.65

  4      482      49.13      482      49.13   

$68.66 to $88.80

  5      474      82.75      359      80.99   

$88.81 to $90.83

  9      564      90.53      1      89.33   

$90.84 to $97.64

  5      190      91.14      151      91.14   

$97.65 to $103.45

  7      475      101.17      211      101.15   
    6      2,185      82.06      1,204      73.05   

PERFORMANCE SHARE UNITS

PSUs vest based on total shareholder return over a three-year performance cycle, compared to the average quarterly total shareholder return of a peer group of companies over the same period. We base the value of each PSU granted on the average closing price of our common shares on the NYSE during the last five days of the three-year cycle.

 

PSU activity (number of units in thousands)          
   2014   2013  

Outstanding, beginning of year

  629      601   

Granted

  254      237   

Forfeited

  (86   (46

Exercised

  (174   (163

Outstanding, end of year

  623      629   

Weighted average fair value of outstanding

  97.81      72.72   

 

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OTHER INFORMATION

 

Compensation expense (recovery) by plan          
   2014   2013  

Stock options and TSARs

  18      (11

SARs

  3      (3

PSUs

  24      5   

DSUs

  5      2   
    50      (7
Liabilities for cash-settled plans          
  December 31,  
   2014   2013  

Total fair value liability for cash-settled plans

  123      153   

Total intrinsic liability for cash-settled plans

  83      119   

At December 31, 2014, unrecognized compensation expense for unvested awards was $28-million. During 2014, we settled $70-million of awards in cash.

VALUATION MODELS

We determine the fair value of TSARs and SARs using a Black-Scholes model and the fair value of PSUs using a Monte Carlo simulation model. We estimate expected annual volatility taking into consideration historic share price volatility.

 

Valuation model inputs          
  December 31,  
   2014   2013  

Grant price (U.S. dollars)

  81.24      67.82   

Share price (U.S. dollars)

  94.72      91.48   

Expected annual volatility (%)

  33.57      35.62   

Risk-free interest rate (%)

  1.48      1.55   

Expected annual dividend yield (%)

  3.29      3.28   

Expected life (years)

  6      5   

Forfeiture rate (%)

  4.04        

 

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21.  FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND RISK MANAGEMENT

A)     FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES

In the normal course of business, our balance sheet, results of operations and cash flows are exposed to various risks. Annually, the Board approves a strategic plan that takes into account the opportunities and major risks of our business and mitigating factors to reduce these risks. The Board sets upper limits on the time periods and transactional and balance sheet exposures that management can manage. Our Corporate Financial Risk Committee reviews risk management policies and procedures annually, and monitors compliance with these limits and associated exposure management activity. We manage risk in accordance with our Global Exposure Management Policy. The objective of the policy is to reduce volatility in cash flows and earnings. We hold all derivative financial instruments for risk management purposes only. Risks that we manage include:

 

Item Affected by Risk management policies
Sales Product prices and foreign currency exchange rates Foreign currency forward and swap contracts
Cost of product sold – natural gas and power Prices of natural gas and power Natural gas forward, swap and option contracts; power swap contracts
Cost of product sold – product purchased for resale Prices of nutrients purchased for resale Nutrient swaps and fixed price product purchase commitments
Selling, general and administrative, and other expenses denominated in local currencies Foreign currency exchange rates Foreign currency forward and swap contracts
Capital expenditures Foreign currency exchange rates Foreign currency forward and swap contracts
Interest expense USD, EUR and AUD interest rates Maintaining a combination of fixed and floating rate debt; interest rate swaps to manage risk for up to 10 years
Financial instruments

Market risk – currency risk

USD balances in Canadian, Australian, European and South American subsidiaries; foreign currencies held in U.S. dollar-denominated subsidiaries Foreign currency forward and swap contracts to manage risk for up to three years

Market risk – commodity price risk (natural gas, power and nutrient price risk)

Market prices of natural gas, power and nutrients Natural gas forward, swap and option contracts; power swap contracts to manage power price risk for up to five years; nutrient swap contracts

Market risk – interest rate risk Floating: short-term debt, floating rate long-term debt, cash and cash equivalents Fixed: long-term debt

Changes in market interest rates Maintaining a combination of fixed and floating rate debt; interest rate swaps to manage risk for up to 10 years; cash management policies

Credit risk

Ability of customers or counterparties to financial instruments to meet obligations Credit approval and monitoring practices; counterparty policies; master netting arrangements; counterparty credit policies and limits; arrangements with financial institutions

Liquidity risk

Fluctuations in cash flows Preparing and monitoring detailed forecasts of cash flows; cash management policies; uncommitted, multiple-year credit facilities

 

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B)     MARKET RISK – CURRENCY RISK

 

Foreign exchange derivative financial instruments outstanding                 
  December 31,  
  2014   2013  

Sell/Buy

(notional amounts in millions of U.S. dollars)

Notional   Maturities  

Fair value

of assets

(liabilities)

  Notional   Maturities  

Fair value

of assets

(liabilities)

 

Not designated as hedges

Forwards

CAD/USD

  1,675      2015      31      350      2014      1   

USD/AUD

  33      2015      (3   33      2014      (1

AUD/USD

  12      2015                       

Swaps

USD/AUD

  26      2015      (1   24      2014      (1

AUD/USD

  21      2015      2                  
                29                  (1

We determine the functional currency of our subsidiaries in reference to the primary economic environment in which the entity operates. We are exposed to currency risk from financial instruments denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of an operation. The majority of this currency risk arises from U.S. denominated debt residing in our Canadian subsidiaries. Translation of these financial instruments into the subsidiaries’ functional currency impacts our earnings. We manage this exposure by entering into foreign currency forward contracts. Although the derivatives have not been designated in hedging relationships, they offset substantially all of the earnings impact from the translation of the underlying financial instruments that could occur from a reasonably possible strengthening or weakening of the U.S. dollar.

 

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C)     MARKET RISK – COMMODITY PRICE RISK

Commodity price risk management and cash flow hedges

Natural gas is a significant component of our cost of product sold for nitrogen-based fertilizers. We use physical contracts and financial forward contracts to manage the risk of market fluctuations in natural gas prices and to reduce the variability of cash flows from our planned purchases of natural gas used in our fertilizer production facilities. Our Board of Directors has established limits on risk management activities, including the following:

 

Use of derivatives to hedge exposure to natural gas market prices risk                    
Term (gas year – 12 months ending October 31) 2015   2016   2017   2018  

Maximum allowable (% of forecasted gas requirements)

  75      75      25      25 (a) 

Forecasted average monthly purchases (millions MMBtu)

       9      9      9   

Gas requirements hedged using derivatives designated as hedges (%)

       25      25      17   
(a) Maximum monthly hedged volume may not exceed 90 percent of planned monthly requirements.

In 2014, we designated natural gas forward contracts as hedges of highly probable purchases of natural gas. The contracts settle in the months hedged, using AECO futures price indexes, which we use to determine fair value. The contracts are denominated in Canadian dollars for purchases of gas in Canadian dollars. At the inception of each designated forward contract, we prepare formal designation and documentation of the hedging relationship and our risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge. For derivatives designated as hedges, we record the effective portion of changes in fair value to other comprehensive income. We record any ineffective portion to earnings.

The underlying risk of the forward contracts is identical to the hedged risk, and accordingly we have established a ratio of 1:1 for all natural gas hedges. Due to a strong correlation between AECO future contract prices and our delivered cost, we did not experience any ineffectiveness on our hedges, and accordingly we have recorded the full change in the fair value of the natural gas forward contracts designated as hedges to other comprehensive income.

 

Natural gas derivative financial instruments outstanding                           
  December 31,  
  2014   2013  
(notional amounts in millions of MMBtu) Notional   Maturities   Average
contract
price (USD
per MMBtu)
  Fair value
of assets
(liabilities)
  Notional   Maturities   Average
contract
price (USD
per MMBtu)
  Fair value
of assets
(liabilities)
 

Not designated as hedges

NYMEX swaps

  1      2015      4      (1                    

AECO swaps

  10      2015      3      (10   8      2014      4        
                      (11                       

Designated as hedges

AECO swaps

  69      2015 – 2018      3      (25                    
                      (25                        

 

Maturities of natural gas derivative contracts Fair value  
   2015   2016   2017   2018  

Not designated as hedges

  (11               

Designated as hedges

  (3   (12   (6   (4

 

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Natural gas derivative financial instruments outstanding                              
     December 31,  
      2014     2013  
      Gross
amount
    Netting     Carrying
amount
    Gross
amount
    Netting     Carrying
amount
 

Not designated as hedges

            

Accounts receivable

     27        (27            26        (26       

Accounts payable

     (38     27        (11     (26     26          
       (11            (11                     

Designated as hedges

            

Accounts receivable

     12        (12                            

Other assets

     193        (193                            

Accounts payable

     (15     12        (3                     

Other liabilities

     (215     193        (22                     
       (25            (25                     
       (36            (36                     

 

Impact of change in fair value of natural gas derivative financial instruments                
     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

A $10-million impact to net earnings requires movement in gas prices per MMBtu

     1.23         1.87   

A $10-million impact to other comprehensive income requires movement in gas prices per MMBtu

     0.19           

D)     MARKET RISK – INTEREST RATE RISK

 

Impact of change in floating rate debt (basis points)    December 31,  
      2014  

A $10-million decrease in net earnings requires an increase in interest rates

     68   

 

Sensitivity – Impact of change in fair value of debentures

   December 31,  
      2014  

Interest rate increase of 1%

     (369

Interest rate decrease of 1%

     440   

The weighted average effective interest rate on long-term debt at December 31, 2014, was 5 percent (December 31, 2013 – 5 percent).

E)     CREDIT RISK

 

Maximum exposure to credit risk                
     December 31,  
      2014      2013  

Cash and cash equivalents

     848         801   

Accounts receivable

     2,075         2,105   

Other current assets

     122         104   

Other non-current assets

     78         99   
       3,123         3,109   

 

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Trade accounts receivable – aging                    
  December 31,  
  2014   2013  
   Gross   Allowance for
doubtful
accounts
  Gross   Allowance for
doubtful
accounts
 

Not past due

  1,443      (9   1,600      (30

30 days or less

  171      (6   169      (5

31 – 60 days

  46      (4   75      (4

61 – 90 days

  20      (3   3      (2

Greater than 90 days

  169      (57   101      (37
    1,849      (79   1,948      (78

 

Trade accounts receivable – allowance for doubtful accounts          
   2014   2013  

Balance, beginning of year

  78      72   

Additions

  19      9   

Write-offs

  (18   (3

Balance, end of year

  79      78   

Balance as a percentage of trade accounts receivable

  4      4   

Trade accounts receivable – risk concentration

We determine and monitor concentrations of credit risk using our aging analysis of trade receivables. Geographic and industry diversity also mitigates credit risk. Trade accounts receivable have significant concentrations of credit risk in the agriculture sector. Geographic diversity and crop insurance programs in Canada and the United States mitigate any concentration of risk. Our Wholesale business unit diversifies and mitigates risk concentration by selling to industrial customers outside the agriculture sector and by the use of letters of credit and credit insurance. We are closely monitoring the economic environment in Argentina and have taken measures to limit our exposure to that country. Our exposure to credit risk in the Eurozone is negligible. We do not expect any significant losses from trade accounts receivable other than the amounts classified as doubtful accounts, based on historical information about default rates and our analysis of current receivables. No revenues from transactions with a single external customer amount to 10 percent or more of our revenues.

We mitigate credit risk in accounts receivable in our Retail operations in Western Canada through an agency agreement with a Canadian financial institution whereby the financial institution provides credit to qualifying Agrium customers to assist in financing their crop input purchases. The agency agreement, which expires in 2018, results in customers having loans directly with the institution while Agrium has only a limited recourse involvement to the extent of an indemnification of the institution for 50 percent of its future bad debts to a maximum of 5 percent of the qualified customer loans. Outstanding customer credit with the financial institution was $524-million at December 31, 2014, which is not recognized in the consolidated balance sheet. Historical indemnification losses on this arrangement have been negligible and the average aging of the customer loans with the financial institution is current.

Derivatives and cash and cash equivalents – risk concentration

At December 31, 2014, all counterparties to derivative financial instruments have maintained an investment grade credit rating, and there is no indication that any counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under derivative financial contracts or cash and cash equivalents. The carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure.

 

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F)     LIQUIDITY RISK

The table below summarizes the maturity profile of our financial liabilities based on contractual undiscounted payments, including estimated interest payments. The amounts included for derivative financial instruments are subject to change as interest rates, exchange rates or commodity prices change.

 

December 31, 2014                              
   Carrying
amount
  Contractual
cash flows
  Less than
one year
  One to
three years
  Four to
five years
  More than
five years
 

Short-term debt

  1,527      1,527      1,527                  

Accounts payable

  2,556      2,556      2,556                  

Current portion of long-term debt

  11      11      11                  

Long-term debt

  3,559      6,854      178      471      842      5,363   

Other liabilities

  17      17           17             

Foreign exchange derivative contracts

  4      4      4                  

Natural gas derivative contracts

  36      36      14      18      4        
    7,710      11,005      4,290      506      846      5,363   

G)     NETTING ARRANGEMENTS

We enter into derivative transactions under master netting arrangements. Under these arrangements, we aggregate the amounts owed by each counterparty for all contracts outstanding in the same currency or commodity into a single net amount receivable or payable by us or our counterparty. If a default occurs, all outstanding transactions under the arrangement are terminated and the net termination value is receivable or payable for settlement purposes.

We record the carrying amounts of our foreign exchange derivative contracts on a gross basis; therefore the carrying amounts do not reflect amounts subject to enforceable master netting arrangements for our foreign exchange derivative contracts. The gross amounts netted are negligible.

We record the carrying amounts of our natural gas, power and nutrient derivative contracts held under master netting arrangements on a net basis, and we reflect the amounts subject to enforceable master netting arrangements in the carrying amount of the derivatives.

H)     GAIN (LOSS) ON DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS INCLUDED IN EARNINGS

 

2014   2013  

Foreign exchange derivatives

Realized gain on foreign exchange derivative financial instruments

  60      6   

Unrealized gain (loss) on foreign exchange derivative financial instruments

  32      (1
    92      5   

Commodity derivatives

Realized gain (loss) on commodity derivative financial instruments

  18      (5

Unrealized gain on commodity derivative financial instruments

       16   
    18      11   

Net gain on derivative financial instruments

  110      16   

I)     FAIR VALUE HIERARCHY

We determine the fair value of financial instruments classified as Level 1 using independent quoted market prices for identical instruments in active markets. We estimate the fair value of financial instruments classified as Level 2 using quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active, or using valuation techniques based on industry-accepted third-party models, which make maximum use of market-based inputs. We classify fair value estimates that are not based on observable market data as Level 3. We consider a market active if quoted prices are readily and regularly available and based on actual and regularly occurring market transactions. For any significant Level 3 measurements, we employ a valuation team or retain valuation experts to calculate certain measurements, and we review any third-party information we utilize.

 

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We monitor the availability of observable market data to assess the appropriate classification of financial instruments within the fair value hierarchy. Changes in economic conditions or market liquidity generally drive changes in the availability of observable market data. Changes in the availability of observable market data that may result in changing the valuation technique used, are generally the cause of transfers between Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. We have not made any transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements in the reporting periods ended December 31, 2014, or December 31, 2013. We do not measure any of our financial instruments using Level 3 inputs.

Fair value measurement techniques and inputs for financial instruments measured using Level 2 inputs

 

Financial instrument Measurement technique Key inputs
Foreign exchange forward contracts, swaps and options Discounted cash flow Forward exchange rates, contract forward and interest rates, observable yield curves
Natural gas and power swaps Market comparison Current market and contractual prices, forward pricing curves, quoted forward prices, basis differentials, volatility factors and interest rates

 

Financial instruments measured

at fair value on a recurring basis

                             
  2014   2013  
  Fair value  

Carrying

value

  Fair value  

Carrying

value

 
   Level 1   Level 2   Level 1   Level 2  

Cash and cash equivalents

       848      848           801      801   

Accounts receivable – derivatives

       33      33           1      1   

Other current financial assets – marketable securities (a)

  24      70      94      14      90      104   

Accounts payable – derivatives

       18      18           2      2   

Current portion of long-term debt (b)

Floating rate debt – amortized cost

       11      11           58      58   

Long-term debt (b)

Debentures – amortized cost

       3,879      3,483           3,124      2,989   

Fixed and floating rate debt – amortized cost

       76      76           77      77   

Other financial liabilities – derivatives

       22      22                  
(a) Marketable securities consist of equity and fixed income securities. We determine the fair value of equity securities based on the bid price of identical instruments in active markets. We value fixed income securities using quoted prices of instruments with similar terms and credit risk.
(b) We determine the fair value of long-term debt based on comparable debt instruments with similar maturities to our debt, adjusted where necessary to our credit spread, based on information published by financial institutions. Carrying amount of floating rate debt approximates fair value.

22.  COMMITMENTS

OPERATING LEASES

Operating lease commitments consist primarily of leases for railcars and contractual commitments at distribution facilities in our Wholesale business unit, vehicles and application equipment in our Retail business unit, and office equipment and property leases throughout our operations. Commitments represent minimum payments under each agreement.

 

Future minimum lease payments for operating leases          
  December 31,  
   2014   2013  

Less than one year

  281      262   

One to five years

  362      503   

More than five years

  64      97   
    707      862   

 

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OTHER COMMITMENTS

 

   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019  

Operating

Long-term debt – interest

  189      189      182      182      148   

Cost of product sold

Natural gas and other (a)(b)

  346      164      143      4      3   

Power, sulfuric acid and other (c)(d)

  217      193      150      140      41   

Purchase commitments

  93      11      5      4        

Derivative financial instruments

Foreign exchange

  4                       

Natural gas

  14      12      6      4        
    863      569      486      334      192   

Capital (e)

Long-term debt – principal repayments

            100      12      500   

Asset retirement obligations

  14      9      8      4      3   

Environmental remediation liabilities

  59      28      12      15      10   
    73      37      120      31      513   
    936      606      606      365      705   
(a) Our minimum commitments for North American natural gas purchases, which include both floating rate and fixed rate contracts, are calculated using the prevailing NYMEX forward prices for U.S. facilities and AECO forward prices for Canadian facilities at December 31, 2014.
(b) Commitments include our proportionate share of commitments of joint ventures. Profertil has three long-term gas contracts denominated in U.S. dollars, expiring in 2017. These three contracts account for approximately 76 percent of Profertil’s gas requirements. YPF S.A., our joint venture partner in Profertil, supplies approximately 24 percent of the gas under these contracts.
(c) We have a power co-generation agreement for our Carseland facility that expires on December 31, 2026. The maximum commitment under this agreement is to purchase 60 megawatt-hours of power per hour through 2026. The price for the power is based on a fixed charge adjusted for inflation and a variable charge based on the cost of natural gas, which is provided to the facility for power generation.
(d) Our phosphate rock supply agreement extends to 2020. Our minimum commitment is to purchase 800,000 tonnes in 2015 and 798,000 tonnes from 2016 to 2018, with subsequent volumes to be determined in 2016. The purchase price is based on a formula that tracks finished product pricing and key published phosphate input costs. We entered into a freight contract to import phosphate rock extending to 2018, with a total commitment of $126-million at December 31, 2014.
(e) Future capital expenditures not included above are estimated at: (i) potash facility ramp-up project – $300-million to $400-million; (ii) Texas nitrogen expansion project – $265-million.

23.  CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

From time to time, we become involved in legal or administrative proceedings related to our current and acquired businesses. Such proceedings expose us to possible losses, and we expect our involvement in such matters to continue in the normal conduct of our business. We regularly assess the need for accounting recognition and/or disclosure of these matters. Our assessment considers the probability of adverse judgments and the range of possible losses. We base our assessment of the probable outcome on our judgment of a number of factors including similar past experience and history, precedents, relevant financial, scientific and other evidence of each matter, and opinions from corporate and outside counsel. We record accruals when occurrence is probable and the outcome is reasonably estimable. We may not be able to make a reliable estimate of losses or the range of possible losses when claims do not specify an amount of damages sought, when there are numerous plaintiffs or when a case is in its early stages. We will represent our interests vigorously in all of the proceedings in which we are involved.

Legal and administrative proceedings involving possible losses are inherently complex and we apply significant judgment in estimating probable outcomes. As a result, potential exists for adjustments to liabilities and material variance between actual costs and estimates.

Information on the amounts accrued for litigation, environmental remediation and asset retirement are disclosed in note 18. Our assessment of specific matters at the date of issuance of these financial statements is set out on the following page.

 

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A)     LITIGATION

Oil-for-Food Programme

As described in prior years, AWB Limited, a subsidiary we acquired in 2010, is a defendant, along with 92 other parties, in a lawsuit alleging that the defendants participated in an illegal conspiracy to divert funds from the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme escrow account. The lawsuit seeks total damages in excess of $10-billion from the defendants, jointly and severally. The court dismissed the lawsuit in 2013. In 2014, the dismissal was upheld on appeal and the court refused the plaintiff’s request to reconsider the dismissal. Plaintiffs have until March 2015 to seek leave to appeal the decision. Although we believe that the possibility of a material financial effect from this matter is remote, an adverse decision could have a material adverse effect on Agrium’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. We have not accrued a liability for damages for this matter.

B)     ENVIRONMENTAL CONTINGENCIES

We are responsible for environmental remediation of certain facilities and sites. Work at these sites is in various stages of environmental management – we are assessing and investigating some sites and remediating or monitoring others. We have established a provision for our estimated liabilities (see note 18). However, new information, including changes in regulations or results of investigations, could lead to reassessment of our exposure related to these matters. In addition, we may revise our estimates of our future obligations because they are dependent on a number of uncertain factors including the method and extent of the remediation, as well as cost-sharing arrangements with other parties involved.

For the matters described below, at the date of issuance of these financial statements, we determined that we could not make a reliable estimate of the amount and timing of any financial effect in excess of the amounts accrued. Reasons for this determination include complexity of the matters; early phase of most proceedings; lack of information on the nature and timing of future actions in the matters; dependency on the completion and findings of investigations and assessments; and the lack of specific information as to the nature, extent, timing and cost of future remediation. Until we have greater clarity as to our liability and the extent of our financial exposure, it is not practical to make a reliable estimate of the financial effect of these matters. As negotiations, discussions and assessments proceed, we may provide estimates. Events or factors that could alleviate our current inability to make reliable estimates include further identification of allegations or demands; completion of investigations; completion of remediation phases; a ruling by a court; or initiation of substantive settlement negotiations. An adverse result on final resolution of these matters could have a material adverse impact.

Idaho phosphate mining and processing sites

We are subject to investigations by U.S. federal and state agencies of existing and former phosphate mining and processing sites in Idaho. Nu-West Industries, Inc. (“Nu-West”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agrium, has been notified of potential violations of federal and state statutes. Nu-West is working co-operatively with federal and state agencies and, depending on the site, is in the investigation or risk assessment stage or has, for some sites, begun preliminary work under agreements with the agencies. Completion of investigations, risk assessments or preliminary work will enable Nu-West and the agencies to determine what, if any, remediation work will be required.

Manitoba mining properties

In 1996, Agrium acquired Viridian Inc. (“Viridian”), which is now a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary of Agrium. Viridian has retained certain liabilities associated with the Fox Mine Site, a closed mineral processing site near Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Viridian is currently treating water draining from the site to meet provincial downstream water quality standards. Viridian has substantially completed the investigation phase of remediation and is currently in discussions with the Province of Manitoba regarding remedial alternatives selection. Concurrence and approval from the Province of a remedial design are expected within the next 36 months. For this matter, we have not disclosed information about the amount accrued for site remediation because disclosure of such information would seriously prejudice our position in discussions with the Province.

 

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24.  CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES IN MANAGING CAPITAL

Our objectives for managing capital are to (a) maintain a strong balance sheet and flexible capital structure to optimize the cost of capital at an acceptable level of risk; (b) support an investment grade credit rating profile; (c) improve our return on capital employed by implementing working capital initiatives; and (d) maximize shareholder value.

We continually monitor the ratios outlined in the table below to manage our capital.

 

  December 31,  
   2014   2013  

Net-debt to net-debt-plus-equity (%) (a)

  39      31   

Interest coverage (multiple) (b)

  13      13   

Return on operating capital employed (%) (c)

  10      15   

Return on capital employed (%) (d)

  7      11   

Average non-cash working capital to sales (%) (e)

  14      17   
(a) Net-debt includes short-term debt and long-term debt, net of cash and cash equivalents. Equity consists of shareholders’ equity. For purposes of capital management, capital comprises debt and equity. We also monitor our debt-to-capital ratio, calculated as total debt divided by the sum of total debt and total equity. For the purposes of this ratio, total debt is defined as the sum of short-term debt, long-term debt, guarantees and letters of credit, net of cash and cash equivalents. This ratio is required to be less than or equal to 65 percent to satisfy certain debt covenants.
(b) Interest coverage is the last 12 months’ EBITDA divided by finance costs, which includes finance costs related to long-term debt plus other finance costs.
(c) Last 12 months’ earnings from continuing operations before finance costs and income taxes (“EBIT”) less income taxes at a tax rate of 27 percent (2013 – 27 percent) divided by rolling four quarter average operating capital employed. Operating capital employed includes non-cash working capital, property, plant and equipment, investments in associates and joint ventures, and other assets.
(d) Last 12 months’ EBIT less income taxes at a tax rate of 27 percent (2013 – 27 percent) divided by rolling four quarter average capital employed. Capital employed includes operating capital employed, intangibles and goodwill.
(e) Rolling four quarter average non-cash working capital divided by sales.
(f) Some measures included in this note are additional IFRS financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

Our strategy in managing capital is to maintain our ratio of net-debt to net-debt-plus-equity in a target range of 35 percent to 45 percent, return on operating capital employed at a target of 12 percent and average non-cash working capital to sales of approximately 16 percent. To maintain or adjust our capital structure, we may adjust the amount of dividends paid to shareholders, return capital to shareholders, issue new shares, or issue or redeem debt. Our authorized share capital consists of unlimited common shares without par value and unlimited preferred shares. We have targeted paying annual dividends of 40 percent to 50 percent of free cash flow. We define free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities, less sustaining capital expenditures.

We maintain a base shelf prospectus, which permits issuance in Canada and the United States of common shares, debt and other securities up to $2.5-billion, less the offering price of securities issued between the 2014 filing date of the prospectus and May 2016. Issuance of further securities under the base shelf prospectus requires filing a prospectus supplement and is subject to the availability of funding in capital markets.

Our revolving credit facilities require that we maintain specific interest coverage and debt-to-capital ratios, as well as other non-financial covenants as defined in our credit agreements. We were in compliance with all covenants at December 31, 2014.

PURCHASES OF AGRIUM SHARES

During 2013, we purchased five million shares for total consideration of $498-million under our Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”). The NCIB expired on May 20, 2014 with no additional shares purchased for the year ended December 31, 2014.

 

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DIVIDENDS DECLARED AND PAID

 

Dividends  
December 31,  
      2014                          2013                
Declared      Paid to           Declared      Paid to       
Effective    Per share      shareholders    Total      Effective    Per share      shareholders    Total  

February 21, 2014

     0.75       April 17, 2014      108       February 22, 2013      0.50       April 18, 2013      75   

May 7, 2014

     0.75       July 17, 2014      108       April 9, 2013      0.50       July 18, 2013      74   

August 7, 2014

     0.75       October 16, 2014      107       August 8, 2013      0.75       October 17, 2013      110   

December 11, 2014

     0.78       January 21, 2015      112       December 12, 2013      0.75       January 16, 2014      108   
       3.03              435              2.50              367   

 

Dividends payable                                           
     December 31,  
            2014                   2013         
     Declared           Declared        
      Prior
fiscal year
    Current
fiscal year
    Total     Prior
fiscal year
    Current
fiscal year
    Total  

Balance, beginning of year

     108               108        75               75   

Declared

     N/A        435        435        N/A        367        367   

Paid in cash

     (108     (322     (430     (75     (259     (334

Foreign currency remeasurement

                     (1                       

Balance, end of year

                     112                        108   

25.  OPERATING SEGMENTS

Our operating segments, described in note 1, are defined by the organization and reporting structure through which we operate our business. We have not aggregated any operating segments in determining our reportable segments. Our chief operating decision maker (“CODM” – our senior leadership team, consisting of our CEO and all of our Executive Vice-Presidents and Senior Vice-Presidents) measures performance and allocates resources based on segment earnings before finance costs, interest income and income taxes. The CODM reviews internal reports reflecting the information included in the following tables on a regular basis. The reports reviewed by the CODM reflect operating information including sales, gross margins, and net earnings before finance costs, interest income and income taxes. On a regular basis, the CODM also reviews Retail sales by product line, but not Retail net earnings information by product line, reflecting how Retail aggregates expenses and net earnings in its accounting records and financial reports. The CODM does not regularly review (a) financial information aggregated on any other product line or geographic basis; (b) segment financing costs, income taxes or balance sheet information; or (c) unallocated Wholesale overhead costs. The CODM believes that this information is most relevant in evaluating the results of certain segments relative to other entities that operate in similar industries.

The accounting policies of segments are the same as the accounting policies described in note 26. We record sales between segments at prices equivalent to those charged to third parties. We eliminate such sales on consolidation. We continually monitor changes in facts and circumstances that could cause a change in the composition of our operating segments, as determined by the information regularly reviewed by the CODM. We report a non-operating segment, “Other”, for inter-segment eliminations and corporate functions.

 

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Segment operations          
   2014   2013  

Sales

Retail

North America

  10,463      9,329   

International

  2,518      2,584   

Total Retail

  12,981      11,913   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  1,482      1,724   

Potash

  391      564   

Phosphate

  701      654   

Product purchased for resale

  921      1,131   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  478      529   

Total Wholesale

  3,973      4,602   

Other

  (912   (788
    16,042      15,727   

Inter-segment sales

Retail

  14      17   

Wholesale

  898      771   
    912      788   

Earnings before income taxes

Retail

North America

  723      940   

International

  91      (192

Total Retail

  814      748   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  381      672   

Potash

  70      270   

Phosphate

  76      67   

Product purchased for resale

  25      9   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  103      124   
  655      1,142   

Unallocated expenses

  102      97   

Total Wholesale

  553      1,045   

Other

  (207   (163

Earnings before finance costs and income taxes

  1,160      1,630   

Finance costs related to long-term debt

  62      90   

Other finance costs

  70      66   

Earnings before income taxes

  1,028      1,474   

 

   2014   2013  

Sales

Retail

Crop nutrients

  5,222      4,993   

Crop protection products

  4,613      4,204   

Seed

  1,481      1,258   

Merchandise

  871      612   

Services and other

  794      846   
    12,981      11,913   

 

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Entity-wide disclosures          
  December 31,  
   2014   2013  

Total assets

Retail

North America

  7,915      7,658   

International

  1,197      1,331   

Total Retail

  9,112      8,989   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  1,916      1,391   

Potash

  3,666      2,645   

Phosphate

  734      621   

Product purchased for resale

  220      321   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  345      702   

Total Wholesale

  6,881      5,680   

Other

  1,115      1,106   

Assets held for sale

       202   
    17,108      15,977   

Investments in associates and joint ventures

Retail

North America

  36      34   

International

  38      44   

Total Retail

  74      78   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  498      557   

Product purchased for resale

  4      4   

Total Wholesale

  502      561   
    576      639   

Earnings (loss) from associates and joint ventures

Retail

North America

  3      3   

International

  3      6   

Total Retail

  6      9   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  17      60   

Product purchased for resale

  1      1   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

       (1

Total Wholesale

  18      60   

Other

  (1   (1
    23      68   

 

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   2014   2013  

Additions to non-current assets (a)

Retail

North America

  399      745   

International

  32      51   

Total Retail

  431      796   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  506      298   

Potash

  1,356      1,213   

Phosphate

  26      113   

Product purchased for resale

       2   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  19      40   

Total Wholesale

  1,907      1,666   

Other

  5      13   
    2,343      2,475   
(a) Includes property, plant and equipment, intangibles and goodwill.

 

Significant non-cash items                              
 

2014

  2013  
   Depreciation
and
amortization
  Share-based
payments
expense
  Depreciation
and
amortization
  Share-based
payments
recovery
  Purchase
gain
  Goodwill
impairment
 

Retail

North America

  257           202           (257     

International

  48           36                220   

Total Retail

  305           238           (257   220   

Wholesale

Nitrogen

  86           77                  

Potash

  65           50                  

Phosphate

  52           53                  

Product purchased for resale

  1           1                  

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  19           19                  
  223           200                  

Unallocated expenses

  7           17                  

Total Wholesale

  230           217                  

Other

  15      50      17      (7          
    550      50      472      (7   (257   220   

 

Key data by geographic region                    
  2014   2013  
   Sales (a)   Non-current
assets
(b)
  Sales (a)   Non-current
assets (b)
 

Canada

  3,227      4,689      2,119      3,738   

United States

  9,702      4,017      10,181      3,574   

Europe

  584      34      809      40   

South America

  406      278      441      331   

Australia

  2,095      281      2,075      345   

Other

  28      267      102      292   
    16,042      9,566      15,727      8,320   
(a) Sales by location of third-party customers.
(b) Excludes financial instruments and deferred tax assets.

 

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26.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES, JUDGMENTS, ASSUMPTIONS AND ESTIMATES

IFRS requires us to describe accounting policies that we use that are relevant to an understanding of our financial statements if we have selected the policies from alternatives allowed under IFRS. Without repeating or restating the actual text of the accounting standards, we have disclosed polices if disclosure would assist users in understanding how we reflect transactions and other events and conditions in our financial statements.

In addition, IFRS requires us to describe a) judgments that we have made in the process of applying our accounting and b) information about the assumptions and estimates we make in applying our accounting policies.

 

A) ACCOUNTING POLICY CHOICES REQUIRING JUDGMENTS THAT HAVE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE AMOUNTS RECOGNIZED IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Financial statement area Accounting policy judgment Judgment factors

Long-lived assets

(IAS 16, IAS 36, IAS 38)

For property, plant and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets, we review for indicators of impairment at each reporting period. We perform this review at the CGU level. A CGU may be a single asset or a group of assets if we cannot identify independent cash flows from an asset. If indicators of impairment of a CGU exist, we will calculate its recoverable amount.

 

We perform an impairment test of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles in the fourth quarter annually or earlier if indicators of impairment exist. We allocate goodwill to CGU groups based on the level at which goodwill is monitored internally by management. This level does not exceed the level of our operating segments before aggregation.

We determine CGUs based on geographic regions, economic and commercial influences, product lines, extent of shared infrastructure and interdependence of cash flows. We grouped (a) Wholesale assets by product lines because of differing production processes and inputs for each nutrient; and (b) Retail assets by geographic regions based on customers, products and distribution methods.

 

We have allocated substantially all of the carrying amount of goodwill to two groups of CGUs within the Retail business unit: Retail – North America and Retail – Australia.

Foreign currency (IAS 21) The functional currency of our operations is generally the local currency. Our presentation currency for the consolidated financial statements is the U.S. dollar. In determining the functional currency of our operations, we primarily considered the currency that determines the pricing of transactions, rather than focusing on the currency in which transactions are denominated. We also make judgments about whether an entity may have multiple branches with different functional currencies.
Provisions (IAS 37) We distinguish between provisions and contingent liabilities based on the probability of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits and the availability of information to make a sufficiently reliable estimate. We make judgments as to whether an obligation exists and whether an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits for a liability of uncertain timing or amount is probable, not probable, or remote. These judgments determine whether we recognize or disclose an amount in the financial statements. We consider all available information relevant to each specific matter. In 2014, we continued to review our litigation, asset retirement and environmental remediation provisions and determined that our current provisions are our best estimate of future outflows. Accordingly, we did not make any significant changes to our existing provisions.

Deferred income tax assets

(IAS 12)

We recognize deferred tax assets only to the extent we consider it probable that we will recover those assets. Our recognition of deferred tax assets affects the amount of our tax provision.

 

We review the carrying amount of deferred tax assets at each reporting date to assess whether it remains probable that sufficient taxable earnings will be available to allow us to utilize all or part of the deferred tax asset.

We make judgments about when deferred tax assets are likely to reverse and assumptions as to whether or not there will be sufficient taxable earnings available to offset the tax assets when they do reverse. In determining whether to establish a valuation allowance against a deferred tax asset, we perform a continual evaluation of all positive and negative evidence. Our evaluation includes the magnitude and duration of past losses, current profitability and whether profitability is sustainable, and our earnings forecast.

 

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B)     ASSUMPTIONS AND ESTIMATES IN APPLYING ACCOUNTING POLICIES

In preparing financial statements, we also make assumptions and estimates. We base our assumptions and estimates on our historical experience, current trends and all available information that we believe is relevant at the time we prepare the financial statements. However, we cannot determine future events and their effects with certainty. Accordingly, as confirming events occur, actual results could ultimately differ from our assumptions and estimates. Such differences could be material. We have provided sensitivity analysis elsewhere in the notes to these financial statements in instances where it is relevant to understanding management’s assumptions about the future. Sensitivity analysis presents the impact of reasonably possible changes to one assumption while holding other assumptions constant. Accordingly, such analysis provides only an approximation of the sensitivity to the individual assumptions shown and does not reflect the full impact on our financial position and results of operations.

We consider estimates made in recording inventory provisions, rebates, impairment of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets, income taxes, share-based compensation, and business combinations to be critical accounting estimates that require our most difficult, subjective, and complex assumptions. In addition to these critical estimates, we have described other estimates and assumptions that accompany our accounting policy choices to assist users in understanding how we record transactions in the financial statements.

 

Financial statement area Accounting policy Assumptions and estimation uncertainty
Business combinations (IFRS 3) We recognize the consideration transferred, assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their acquisition date fair values, recognizing any goodwill acquired or a gain on a purchase, and any non-controlling interest in the acquired business. For each business combination, we elect to measure the non-controlling interest in the acquired entity either at fair value or at the proportionate share of the acquiree’s identifiable net assets. Our purchase price allocation process involves uncertainty as we make assumptions to identify tangible and intangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed, and their fair values. To determine fair values, we use quoted market prices or widely accepted valuation techniques. These include discounted cash flow analyses and market multiple analyses, based on assumptions about economic conditions, interest rates, industry economic factors, business strategies, and risks specific to the acquired asset or liability.
Rebates (IAS 2)

We account for rebates and prepay discounts as a reduction of the prices of the suppliers’ products. Rebates based on the amount of materials purchased reduce cost of product as we sell inventory. We offset rebates based on sales volume to cost of product sold if we have earned the rebate based on sales volume of products.

 

We accrue rebates that are probable and that we can reasonably estimate. We accrue rebates that are not probable or estimable when we achieve certain milestones. We accrue rebates not covered by binding agreements or published vendor programs when we obtain conclusive documentation of right of receipt.

We record accruals for some rebates by estimating the point at which we will have completed our performance under an agreement. Due to the complexity and diversity of individual vendor agreements, we analyze and review historical trends to apply rates negotiated with our vendors to estimated and actual purchase volumes to determine accruals. Estimated amounts accrued throughout the year could be impacted if actual purchase volumes differ from projected volumes.
Inventories (IAS 2)

We measure inventories at the lower of cost and net realizable value.

 

Wholesale inventories consist primarily of crop nutrients, operating supplies and raw materials, including both direct and indirect production and purchase costs, depreciation and amortization of assets employed directly in production, and freight to transport product to storage facilities. Operating supplies include catalysts used in the production process, materials used for repairs and maintenance, and other supplies.

 

Retail inventories consist primarily of crop nutrients, crop protection products, seed and merchandise and include the cost of delivery to move the product to storage facilities.

Calculating the net realizable value of inventories requires estimates and assumptions about a combination of interrelated factors affecting forecasted selling prices, including demand and supply variables. Demand variables include grain and oilseed prices, stock-to-use ratios and changes in inventories in distribution channels. Supply variables include forecasted prices of raw materials such as natural gas, operating rates and crop nutrient inventory levels.

 

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Financial statement area Accounting policy Assumptions and estimation uncertainty
Impairment of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets (IAS 36)

For each CGU group to which we have allocated goodwill, we carry out an impairment test by calculating the recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the greater of FVLCD or value in use (“VIU”).

 

In assessing FVLCD, we are not required to use a specific approach. For some calculations, we may use an income approach with a discounted cash flow technique. For other calculations, we may use a market approach based on prices and other information generated by market transactions. We deduct the incremental cost of disposing the asset in determining FVLCD.

 

In assessing VIU, we discount the estimated future cash flows to their present value using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset or CGU.

We make assumptions underlying projected cash flows used in our impairment test based on our annual five-year plan, which contains information on sales (based on external and internal forecasts), assumed production levels and costs, product pricing, capital expenditures and allocation of corporate costs. Various factors could affect the estimated recoverable amount of a CGU, including changes in market conditions such as crop nutrient prices, climate, planted acreage and global production capacity additions, interest rates, inflation rates, growth rates, foreign currency exchange rates, tariffs, costs and capital expenditures. We base the long-term future growth rate that we use to estimate terminal value on past performance and management’s expectations of market development. Where necessary, we adjust the above to reflect assumptions that independent market participants would apply under the FVLCD approach.
Property, plant and equipment (IAS 16, IAS 23, IAS 36, IAS 37)

We present property, plant and equipment at cost net of accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. We capitalize components requiring replacement at regular intervals, major inspections and overhauls, spare parts used in connection with specific equipment and standby equipment. We capitalize such costs if they meet the asset recognition criteria of IAS 16 and the asset has an estimated useful life of greater than one year. We depreciate each component over the lesser of its estimated useful life or the remaining period until the next replacement or major inspection or overhaul. If the construction or preparation for use of property, plant or equipment extends over a period of longer than 12 months, we capitalize borrowing costs up to the date of completion as part of the cost of acquisition or construction.

 

We move an asset from the construction phase to the production phase and begin depreciation when the asset is available for use in the manner intended by management.

We depreciate property, plant and equipment on a straight-line basis using the following estimated useful lives, which we reassess annually:

 

Buildings and improvements 3 – 55 years
Machinery and equipment 1 – 55 years
Other 2 – 45 years

 

We make assumptions about the use of an asset based on the level of capital expenditures compared to construction cost estimates; completion of a reasonable period of testing of the asset; ability to produce product in saleable form within specifications; and ability to sustain ongoing production.

 

During 2014, we reassessed the useful lives of property, plant and equipment in our Retail business unit based on observations of the rate of consumption through its existing use. Current and expected reduction in depreciation expense is 2014 – $22-million, 2015 – $73-million, 2016 – $38-million, and 2017 – $16-million.

Intangible assets other than goodwill (IAS 38) We initially measure finite-lived intangible assets at cost and amortize them over their estimated useful lives, except for intangible assets with indefinite useful lives. We capitalize costs for internally generated intangible assets when costs meet criteria for feasibility. We expense research or development expenditures that do not meet the capitalization criteria.

We amortize finite-lived intangible assets on a straight-line basis using the following estimated useful lives, which we reassess annually:

 

Trade names 5 – 10 years
Customer relationships 5 – 10 years
Technology 3 – 7 years
  Other 5 – 20 years

 

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Financial statement area Accounting policy Assumptions and estimation uncertainty
Revenue recognition (IAS 18)

We recognize revenue when we meet the requirements of IAS 18. For the sale of goods, risks and rewards of ownership pass to our customers based on the contractual terms of the arrangement. In most cases, the terms of the arrangement are such that risks and rewards transfer when product is:

 

•    Picked up by the customer;

 

•    Delivered to the destination specified by our customer;

 

•    Delivered to the vessel on which the product will be shipped; or

 

•    Delivered to the destination port.

 

We recognize revenue for services when the service is complete. We deduct provisions for returns, trade discounts, and rebates from revenue. We recognize interest income using the effective interest method.

We make various estimates to recognize revenue, including our ability to collect consideration for a sale, the impact of estimated customer sales returns and some customer incentive programs, whether we are acting as an agent or principal in a sale, and whether a service is complete. We make estimates based on historical and forecasted data, contractual terms and current conditions. Because of the nature of our sales of goods and services, any single estimate would have only a negligible impact on revenue recognition.
Assets held for sale and discontinued operations (IFRS 5) We measure assets held for sale at the lower of their carrying amount and FVLCD. We have disclosed information about discontinued operations in note 3. For assets held for sale, we make estimates of the value of the asset and when we will complete the sale. We estimate FVLCD using assumptions an independent market participant would use about the future cash flows of the asset and its eventual disposal. Assumptions include production or sales volumes, sales prices and discount rates.
Income taxes (IAS 12)

In determining our provision for income taxes, we use an annual effective income tax rate based on annual income, permanent differences between book and tax income, and substantially enacted income tax rates. We adjust our annual effective income tax rate as additional information on outcomes or events becomes available.

 

We recognize a tax benefit or liability for an uncertain tax position when our best estimate is that the position is more likely than not to be sustained on examination, based on a qualitative assessment of all relevant factors.

We make assumptions to estimate the exposures associated with our various filing positions. We recognize a provision when it becomes probable that we will incur additional tax liabilities for such exposures. Changes in tax law, the level and geographic mix of earnings and the results of tax audits also affect our effective income tax rate.

 

Determining tax provisions requires that we make assumptions about the ultimate outcome of a filing position, which can change over time depending on facts and circumstances.

Employee future benefits (IAS 19) We establish a liability when an employee has provided service in return for benefits that we expect to pay in the future. For defined benefit pension plans, we recognize a defined benefit obligation, based on actuarial assumptions, net of the fair value of plan assets. We use actuarial assumptions to determine the obligations for employee future benefits at each reporting period. These assumptions include the discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on assets, rate of increase in compensation levels, mortality rates, and health care cost trend rates. We have provided detailed information on the assumptions used in note 17.
Leases (IAS 17, IFRIC 4) An arrangement may be or contain a lease according to the substance of the arrangement. This is the case if the arrangement is dependent on the use of an asset or conveys a right to use an asset, even if not explicitly stated. Leasing arrangements primarily relate to railcars and other rolling stock, which we have classified as operating leases. In making this determination, we primarily considered that the lease term does not constitute a major part of the asset’s economic life, that ownership does not transfer to us at the end of the lease term, and that the present value of minimum lease payments does not represent a significant portion of the fair value of the asset at the inception of the lease.

 

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Financial statement area Accounting policy Assumptions and estimation uncertainty
Provisions (IAS 37)

Our most significant provisions relate to litigation, asset retirement and environmental remediation provisions.

 

We measure provisions (liabilities of uncertain timing or amount) at the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the liability. We take risks and uncertainties into account when measuring a provision. We discount a provision to its present value using a pre-tax, risk-free discount rate. We do not recognize contingent liabilities (obligations that we cannot measure with sufficient reliability or obligations for which it is not probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation). We have described policy choices applying to provisions and contingent liabilities in notes 18 and 23.

In estimating the outcome of litigation, we make assumptions including experience with similar matters, past history, precedents, evidence and facts specific to the matter. These assumptions determine whether we require a provision or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

In determining provisions for asset retirement and environmental remediation, we assess factors such as the extent of contamination, the nature and timing of the work we are obligated to perform or pay for, changes to environmental laws and regulations, and whether we will share any of the costs with third parties.

Share-based compensation (IFRS 2) We recognize share-based payment transactions when we obtain services from an employee. We expect to settle our share-based compensation plans in cash. We measure share-based compensation at the fair value of the liability, and remeasure liabilities at the end of each reporting period and at the date of settlement. We have described our policy choices applying to our plans in note 20. In valuing share-based payment transactions and liabilities, we make assumptions about the future volatility of our share price, expected dividend yield, future employee turnover rates, future employee stock option exercise behavior and corporate performance. Such estimates and assumptions are inherently uncertain.
Financial instruments (IFRS 9) Refer to section c) below for a full description of our accounting policy, newly adopted in 2014. Refer to note 21 for significant assumptions and estimates.

C)     IMPACT OF ADOPTION OF IFRS 9 (2013)

On adoption of IFRS 9, in accordance with its transitional provisions, we have not restated prior periods but have classified the financial assets that we held at January 1, 2014, retrospectively based on the new classification requirements and the characteristics of each financial instrument at the transition date. Adoption of IFRS 9 resulted in balance sheet reclassifications without impact to earnings.

Accounting policy changes adopted under IFRS 9 Financial Instruments

We classify and measure financial assets on initial recognition as described below.

 

Characteristics of financial instrument Category on
initial recognition          
If the objective of our business model for the instrument or group of instruments is to: Amortized cost
   Hold the asset to collect the contractual cash flows; and
   The contractual terms give rise on specified dates to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest.  
All financial instruments not at amortized cost Fair value

 

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Fair value through profit or loss

(“FVTPL”)

Fair value through other

comprehensive income (“FVTOCI”)

Financial assets and liabilities

at amortized cost (“AC”)

Instrument type Debt, equity or derivative Equity Debt
Measurement Fair value Fair value Amortized cost (c)
Fair value gains Profit or loss Other comprehensive income (a)(b)
and losses
Interest and dividends Profit or loss Profit or loss Profit or loss: effective interest rate
Impairment Profit or loss (assets) Other comprehensive income (b) Profit or loss (assets)
Foreign exchange Profit or loss Other comprehensive income (b) Profit or loss
Transaction costs Profit or loss Included in cost of instrument Included in cost of instrument
(a) For equity investments not held for trading, we may make an irrevocable election at initial recognition to recognize changes in fair value through other comprehensive income rather than profit or loss. We did not make any such elections.
(b) If we elect to present unrealized and realized fair value gains and losses on equity investments in other comprehensive income, there is no subsequent recycling of fair value gains and losses to profit or loss. We would recognize dividends from such investments in profit or loss as long as they represent a return on investment.
(c) We may make an election under certain circumstances to irrevocably designate a financial asset or financial liability as measured at fair value. We did not make any such elections.

For financial liabilities, IFRS 9 retains most of the IAS 39 requirements. Because we have not chosen the option of designating any financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss and we do not have embedded derivatives, the adoption of IFRS 9 (2010) did not impact our accounting policies for financial liabilities or derivative financial instruments.

We recognize purchases and sales of financial assets on the trade date, which is the date on which we commit to purchase or sell the asset. We derecognize financial assets when the rights to receive cash flows from the investments have expired or we have transferred them, and we have transferred substantially all risks and rewards of ownership. We recognize derivative contracts with physical delivery that meet certain conditions on the settlement date.

Classification of financial instruments

 

Financial instrument Category under IAS 39 Category under IFRS 9          

Financial assets

Cash and cash equivalents (a)

FVTPL AC

Accounts receivable – trade (a)

L&R AC

Accounts receivable – derivatives

FVTPL FVTPL

Other financial assets – marketable securities (b)

AFS FVTPL

Other financial assets – receivables

L&R AC

Other financial assets – investments (c)

AFS AC

Other financial assets – derivatives

FVTPL FVTPL

Financial liabilities

Short-term debt (a)

AC AC

Accounts payable – trade (a)

AC AC

Accounts payable – derivatives

FVTPL FVTPL

Long-term debt

AC AC

Other financial liabilities

AC AC

Other financial liabilities – derivatives

FVTPL FVTPL
(a) Carrying amount approximates fair value due to the short-term nature of the instruments.
(b) We reclassified marketable securities of $104-million classified as current assets available for sale at January 1, 2014, to fair value through profit or loss ($95-million) and amortized cost ($9-million) without any fair value gain or loss on reclassification. We transferred net accumulated fair value losses of $8-million on these securities classified as available for sale at January 1, 2014, to retained earnings.
(c) We reclassified investments of $12-million classified as non-current assets available for sale at January 1, 2014, to amortized cost without any gain or loss on reclassification.

 

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D)     OTHER RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

The International Accounting Standards Board has issued the following accounting pronouncements, which either have been adopted, or will be adopted in the future, and which could have a material impact.

 

New or amended Standard/
interpretation
Description Agrium’s date and method
of adoption
Impact
New IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers establishes a five-step model that will apply to revenue earned from a contract with a customer. The standard provides specific guidance on identifying separate performance obligations in the contract and allocating the transaction price to the separate performance obligations. Agrium expects to adopt for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2017. We are currently evaluating the impact.
Amended IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements clarifies that when an entity acquires an interest in a joint operation that meets the definition of a business, it should be accounted for under IFRS 3 Business Combinations. Amendments adopted January 1, 2015. There will be no material impact on adoption.
Amended IAS 32 Offsetting Financial Assets and Liabilities (a) clarifies requirements for the right to set-off for rights that are contingent, and enforceability in default, insolvency or bankruptcy of all parties to a liability and (b) clarifies provisions on net settlement. Amendments adopted January 1, 2014. There has been no material impact on adoption.
New IFRIC 21 Levies establishes guidance on accounting for levies imposed by governments. Adopted January 1, 2014, retrospectively. There has been no material impact on adoption.

 

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10-YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (unaudited)

 

(millions of U.S. dollars, except per share data and ratios) 2005 (a)   2006 (a)   2007 (a)   2008 (a)   2009 (a)   2010   2011   2012 (b)   2013   2014  

Operations

Sales

  3,294      4,193      5,270      10,031      9,129      10,743      15,470      16,024      15,727      16,042   

Gross profit

  1,038      956      1,598      3,223      1,943      2,648      4,333      4,308      3,773      3,552   

EBIT (c)(e)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)

  500      72      715      2,016      581      1,113      2,223      2,216      1,630      1,160   

EBITDA (d)(f)(k)(l)

  646      377      888      2,321      823      1,447      2,604      2,629      2,102      1,710   

Earnings (loss) from continuing operations (g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)

  283      33      441      1,322      366      730      1,508      1,516      1,080      798   

Diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations (g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)

  2.12      0.25      3.25      8.34      2.33      4.62      9.52      9.67      7.31      5.51   

Finance costs

  49      63      70      105      110      119      160      130      156      132   

Dividends per common share

  0.11      0.11      0.11      0.11      0.11      0.11      0.28      1.00      2.50      3.03   

Cash Flow

Cash provided by operating activities

  450      155      494      1,058      1,399      589      1,350      2,070      1,767      1,312   

Capital expenditures

  175      209      454      506      313      441      663      1,225      1,755      2,021   

Balance Sheet

Non-cash working capital from continuing operations

  488      735      979      2,564      1,712      2,262      2,612      2,366      2,302      2,113   

Total assets

  2,785      3,265      5,832      9,837      9,785      12,892      13,140      15,805      15,977      17,108   

Total debt

  477      897      950      2,232      1,805      2,760      2,363      3,901      3,888      5,097   

Shareholders’ equity

  1,180      1,233      3,088      4,110      4,592      5,193      6,428      6,920      6,796      6,687   

Common Share Statistics

Weighted average common shares outstanding (in millions)

  132      132      135      158      157      157      158      156      148      144   

Closing share price (USD)

  21.99      31.49      72.21      34.13      61.50      91.75      67.11      99.87      91.48      94.72   

Market capitalization (USD) (m)

  2,881      4,188      11,409      5,358      9,656      14,497      10,603      14,881      13,173      13,640   

Profitability Ratios

Return on operating capital employed (%) (e)

  19      4      20      31      11      19      29      26      15      10   

Return on capital employed (%) (e)

  19      4      18      22      7      12      19      17      11      7   

Return on average shareholders’ equity (%) (f)

  27      3      20      37      8      15      26      23      16      12   

Debt Ratios

Debt to debt-plus-equity (%)

  29      42      24      35      28      35      27      36      36      43   

EBITDA interest coverage (f)

  13.2      6.0      12.7      22.1      7.5      12.2      16.3      20.2      13.5      13.0   
(a) Years prior to 2010 have not been adjusted for the transition to IFRS.
(b) Restated for the application of IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements requiring equity accounting for joint ventures. Also restated for discontinued operations of the Turf and Ornamental and Direct Solutions businesses where required. Prior years have not been restated.
(c) Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before finance costs and income taxes.
(d) Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization.
(e) These are additional IFRS financial measures under IFRS and are not measures of financial performance under previous Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (tax rate applied on return on operating capital employed and return on capital employed ratio calculations was 27 percent for 2013 - 2014 and 28 percent for 2010 - 2012).
(f) These are non-IFRS financial measures under IFRS and are not measures of financial performance under previous Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.
(g) Data for 2006 includes an impairment charge on our Kapuskasing phosphate rock mine and Redwater phosphate facility of $136-million ($95-million net of tax).
(h) Data for 2008 includes an inventory and purchase commitment write-down of $216-million ($149-million net of tax).
(i) Data for 2008 includes an impairment charge on our EAgrium investment of $87-million ($45-million net of non-controlling interest).
(j) Data for 2009 includes an inventory and purchase commitment write-down of $63-million ($49-million net of tax).
(k) Data for 2011 includes an impairment charge on our Hanfeng investment of $61-million ($47-million net of tax).
(l) Data for 2013 includes a goodwill impairment charge on our Retail – Australia of $220-million and a purchase gain on the Viterra acquisition of $257-million. Combined amount of $37-million with no tax impact.
(m) Market capitalization is calculated as period end common shares outstanding multiplied by period end share price.

 

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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (unaudited)

The supplementary financial and performance data set out below and on the following pages contains certain financial information and other items that are not measures of our financial performance under IFRS.

 

Earnings and operating cash flows                        
(millions of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts) Q1   Q2   Q3   Q4   2014   2013  

Sales

  3,079      7,338      2,920      2,705      16,042      15,727   

Cost of product sold

  2,523      5,739      2,255      1,973      12,490      11,954   

Gross profit

  556      1,599      665      732      3,552      3,773   

Gross profit (%)

  18      22      23      27      22      24   

Expenses

Selling

  444      609      480      515      2,048      1,876   

General and administrative

  100      66      80      103      349      329   

(Earnings) loss from associates and joint ventures

  (1   (13   (7   (2   (23   (68

Purchase gain

                           (257

Goodwill impairment

                           220   

Other expenses (income)

  (40   42      7      9      18      43   

Earnings before finance costs and income taxes

  53      895      105      107      1,160      1,630   

Finance costs related to long-term debt

  19      9      15      19      62      90   

Other finance costs

  17      18      14      21      70      66   

Earnings before income taxes

  17      868      76      67      1,028      1,474   

Income taxes

  5      243      (15   (3   230      394   

Net earnings from continuing operations

  12      625      91      70      798      1,080   

Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations

  (9   (9   (41   (19   (78   (17

Net earnings

  3      616      50      51      720      1,063   

Add (deduct)

Depreciation and amortization

  127      142      143      138      550      472   

(Earnings) loss from associates and joint ventures

  (1   (13   (7   (2   (23   (68

Purchase gain

                           (257

Goodwill impairment

                           220   

Share-based payments

  31      (16   10      25      50      (7

Unrealized (gain) loss on derivative financial instruments

  (14   9      (41   14      (32   (15

Unrealized foreign exchange (gain) loss

  (2   (17   67      8      56        

Interest income

  (11   (19   (31   (22   (83   (76

Finance costs

  36      27      29      40      132      156   

Income taxes

  5      243      (15   (3   230      394   

Other

  12      15      (12   5      20      30   

Interest received

  12      19      31      23      85      77   

Interest paid

  (32   (21   (15   (37   (105   (140

Income taxes paid

  (36   (32   (215   (37   (320   (663

Dividends from associates and joint ventures

  1      6      41      1      49      28   

Net changes in non-cash working capital

  621      (931   (542   757      (95   536   

EBIT

  53      895      105      107      1,160      1,630   

EBITDA

  180      1,037      248      245      1,710      2,102   

Adjusted EBITDA

  186      1,048      261      253      1,748      2,156   

Capital expenditures

  459      543      515      504      2,021      1,755   

Basic and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations

  0.08      4.34      0.63      0.46      5.51      7.31   

Basic and diluted earnings per share

  0.02      4.28      0.35      0.33      4.97      7.20   

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    139


Table of Contents
Consolidated balance sheets                        
(millions of U.S. dollars) Q1   Q2   Q3   Q4   2014   2013  

Assets

Current assets

Cash and cash equivalents

  592      759      274      848      848      801   

Accounts receivable

  2,143      3,542      2,847      2,075      2,075      2,105   

Income taxes receivable

  106      4      25      138      138      78   

Inventories

  4,789      3,097      3,086      3,505      3,505      3,413   

Prepaid expenses and deposits

  379      157      236      710      710      805   

Other current assets

  124      124      179      122      122      104   

Assets held for sale

  230      210                     202   
    8,363      7,893      6,647      7,398      7,398      7,508   

Property, plant and equipment

  5,193      5,788      6,021      6,272      6,272      4,960   

Intangibles

  724      712      730      695      695      738   

Goodwill

  1,970      1,970      1,982      2,014      2,014      1,958   

Investments in associates and joint ventures

  639      627      622      576      576      639   

Other assets

  114      95      90      78      78      99   

Deferred income tax assets

  78      75      79      75      75      75   
    17,081      17,160      16,171      17,108      17,108      15,977   

Liabilities and shareholders’ equity

Current liabilities

Short-term debt

  397      1,202      1,855      1,527      1,527      764   

Accounts payable

  5,721      4,263      3,214      4,197      4,197      3,985   

Income taxes payable

  2      179      2      5      5      2   

Current portion of long-term debt

  54      54      26      11      11      58   

Current portion of other provisions

  115      116      106      113      113      112   

Liabilities held for sale

  59      55                     44   
    6,348      5,869      5,203      5,853      5,853      4,965   

Long-term debt

  3,058      3,060      3,069      3,559      3,559      3,066   

Post-employment benefits

  131      157      145      151      151      135   

Other provisions

  410      416      415      367      367      426   

Other liabilities

  35      37      40      69      69      59   

Deferred income tax liabilities

  514      441      378      422      422      530   
    10,496      9,980      9,250      10,421      10,421      9,181   

Shareholders’ equity

Share capital

  1,820      1,821      1,821      1,821      1,821      1,820   

Retained earnings

  5,139      5,632      5,575      5,502      5,502      5,253   

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

  (376   (276   (477   (643   (643   (279

Equity holders of Agrium

  6,583      7,177      6,919      6,680      6,680      6,794   

Non-controlling interest

  2      3      2      7      7      2   

Total equity

  6,585      7,180      6,921      6,687      6,687      6,796   
    17,081      17,160      16,171      17,108      17,108      15,977   

 

140    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


Table of Contents

SEGMENTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION (unaudited)

The supplementary financial and performance data set out below and on the following pages contains certain financial information and other items that are not measures of our financial performance under IFRS.

 

Product lines                                             
  2014  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except where otherwise noted) Sales   Cost of
product
sold
  Gross
profit
  Gross
profit (%)
  Sales
tonnes
(000’s)
 

Selling
price

($/tonne)

 

Cost of
product
sold

($/tonne)

 

Margin

($/tonne)

  Inventory
tonnes
(000’s)
 

Retail

Crop nutrients

  5,222      4,291      931      18      9,719      537      441      96      1,784   

Crop protection products

  4,613      3,559      1,054      23   

Seed

  1,481      1,162      319      22   

Merchandise

  871      757      114      13   

Services and other

  794      320      474      60                                 
    12,981      10,089      2,892      22                                 

North America

  10,463      8,080      2,383      23   

International

  2,518      2,009      509      20   

Wholesale (a)(b)

Nitrogen

Ammonia

  576      425      151      26      1,042      553      408      145      169   

Urea

  570      372      198      35      1,287      443      289      154      48   

Other

  336      304      32      10      983                        106   

Total Nitrogen

  1,482      1,101      381      26      3,312      447      332      115      323   

Potash

  391      321      70      18      1,264      309      253      56      26   

Phosphate

  701      625      76      11      1,142      614      548      66      91   

Product purchased for resale

  921      896      25      3      2,490      370      360      10      222   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  478      375      103      22      1,063      450      353      97      180   
    3,973      3,318      655      16      9,271      429      358      71      842   

Other inter-segment eliminations

  (912   (917   5                                       

Total

  16,042      12,490      3,552      22                                 

Wholesale equity accounted joint ventures:

Nitrogen

  197      149      48      24      454      433      328      105   

Product purchased for resale

  102      93      9      9      287      356      324      32         
    299      242      57      19      741      403      326      77         

Total Wholesale including equity accounted joint ventures (b)

  4,272      3,560      712      17      10,012      427      356      71         

(a) Inventory tonnes represents finished goods.

(b) Restated for the results of the ESN business that has transitioned to our Wholesale business unit.

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    141


Table of Contents
Results by segment                
   2014  
(millions of U.S. dollars) Retail   Wholesale   Other   Total  

Sales

  12,981      3,973      (912   16,042   

Cost of product sold

  10,089      3,318      (917   12,490   

Gross profit

  2,892      655      5      3,552   

Gross profit (%)

  22      16      22   

Expenses

Selling

  2,023      44      (19   2,048   

General and administrative

  124      48      177      349   

(Earnings) loss from associates and joint ventures

  (6   (18   1      (23

Purchase gain

                   

Goodwill impairment

                   

Other expenses (income)

  (63   28      53      18   

EBIT

  814      553      (207   1,160   

EBITDA

  1,119      783      (192   1,710   

Adjusted EBITDA

  1,119      821      (192   1,748   

 

142    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


Table of Contents
Product lines                                    
   2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars, except where otherwise noted) Sales   Cost of
product
sold
  Gross
profit
  Gross
profit (%)
  Sales
tonnes
(000’s)
 

Selling
price

($/tonne)

 

Cost of
product
sold

($/tonne)

 

Margin

($/tonne)

  Inventory
tonnes
(000’s)
 

Retail

Crop nutrients

  4,993      4,154      839      17      8,618      579      482      97      1,674   

Crop protection products

  4,204      3,217      987      23   

Seed

  1,258      984      274      22   

Merchandise

  612      518      94      15   

Services and other

  846      425      421      50                                 
    11,913      9,298      2,615      22                                 

North America

  9,329      7,175      2,154      23   

International

  2,584      2,123      461      18   

Wholesale (a)(b)

Nitrogen

Ammonia

  765      432      333      44      1,219      627      354      273      128   

Urea

  622      336      286      46      1,270      490      265      225      62   

Other

  337      284      53      16      903      374      315      59      128   

Total Nitrogen

  1,724      1,052      672      39      3,392      508      310      198      318   

Potash

  564      294      270      48      1,531      369      193      176      277   

Phosphate

  654      587      67      10      1,026      638      573      65      119   

Product purchased for resale

  1,131      1,122      9      1      2,687      421      418      3      423   

Ammonium sulfate, ESN and other

  529      405      124      23      999                        186   
    4,602      3,460      1,142      25      9,635      478      359      119      1,323   

Other inter-segment eliminations

  (788   (804   16                                       

Total

  15,727      11,954      3,773      24                                 

Wholesale equity accounted joint ventures:

Nitrogen

  234      173      61      26      540      433      320      113   

Product purchased for resale

  119      111      8      7      304      392      365      27         
    353      284      69      20      844      418      336      82         

Total Wholesale including equity accounted joint ventures (b)

  4,955      3,744      1,211      24      10,479      473      357      116         

 

Results by segment                    
  2013  
(millions of U.S. dollars) Retail   Wholesale (b)   Other   Total  

Sales

  11,913      4,602      (788   15,727   

Cost of product sold

  9,298      3,460      (804   11,954   

Gross profit

  2,615      1,142      16      3,773   

Gross profit (%)

  22      25      24   

Expenses

Selling

  1,847      43      (14   1,876   

General and administrative

  116      81      132      329   

(Earnings) loss from associates and joint ventures

  (9   (60   1      (68

Purchase gain

  (257             (257

Goodwill impairment

  220                220   

Other expenses (income)

  (50   33      60      43   

EBIT

  748      1,045      (163   1,630   

EBITDA

  986      1,262      (146   2,102   

Adjusted EBITDA

  986      1,316      (146   2,156   

(a) Inventory tonnes represents finished goods.

(b) Restated for the results of the ESN business that has transitioned to our Wholesale business unit.

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    143


Table of Contents

PERFORMANCE (unaudited)

 

Key data and ratios        
(millions of U.S. dollars, except where otherwise noted) 2014   2013  

DATA

Sales

  16,042      15,727   

EBIT

  1,160      1,630   

EBITDA

  1,710      2,102   

Adjusted EBITDA

  1,748      2,156   

Net earnings from continuing operations

  798      1,080   

Net earnings

  720      1,063   

Cash provided by operating activities

  1,312      1,767   

Working capital from continuing operations

  1,545      2,385   

Non-cash working capital from continuing operations

  2,113      2,302   

Total assets

  17,108      15,977   

Total debt

  5,097      3,888   

Shareholders’ equity

  6,687      6,796   

Enterprise value

  17,889      16,260   

Number of employees

  15,500      15,800   

VALUE RATIOS (:1 except per share amounts)

EBITDA per share

  11.88      14.20   

Price to earnings (P/E)

  17      13   

Price to operating cash flow per share (P/CF)

  10      8   

Enterprise value to EBITDA

  10      8   

Price to book value per common share

  2.0      1.9   

Shareholders’ equity to total assets

  0.4      0.4   

Book value per common share

  46.44      47.19   

LIQUIDITY RATIOS (:1)

Quick ratio

  0.7      0.8   

Current ratio

  1.3      1.5   

Working capital from continuing operations to sales

  0.1      0.2   

Average non-cash working capital from continuing operations to sales

  0.1      0.2   

Sales to total assets

  0.9      1.0   

Total asset turnover

  1.0      1.0   

PROFITABILITY RATIOS (%)

Return on operating capital employed

  10      15   

Return on capital employed

  7      11   

Return on average shareholders’ equity

  12      16   

Operating coverage

  67      57   

Cash operating coverage

  55      47   

EBITDA to sales

  11      13   

DEBT RATIOS (:1 except percentages)

Debt to debt-plus-equity (%)

  43      36   

Net-debt to net-debt-plus-equity (%)

  39      31   

EBIT interest coverage

  8.8      10.4   

EBITDA interest coverage

  13.0      13.5   

 

144    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


Table of Contents
Ratio definitions   
EBIT = earnings (loss) from continuing operations before finance costs and income taxes
EBITDA = earnings (loss) from continuing operations before finance costs, income taxes,
depreciation and amortization
Adjusted EBITDA = EBITDA before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization of joint ventures
Working capital = (current assets - assets held for sale) - (current liabilities - liabilities held for sale)
Non-cash working capital = (current assets - cash and cash equivalents - other current assets - assets held for sale)
- (current liabilities - short-term debt - current portion of long-term debt - liabilities held for sale)
Enterprise value = net-debt (short-term debt and long-term debt, less cash and cash equivalents)
+ (period end shares outstanding x closing share price)
closing share price
Price to earnings = diluted earnings per share from continuing operations + asset impairment (after tax) per share
- purchase gain (after tax) per share
Price to operating cash flow per share = closing share price
cash provided by operating activities / weighted average common shares outstanding
Price to book value per common share = closing share price
shareholders’ equity / period end shares outstanding
Quick ratio = current assets - inventories
current liabilities
Current ratio = current assets / current liabilities
Average non-cash working capital to sales = rolling four quarter average non-cash working capital / sales
Total asset turnover = sales / average total assets
EBIT after income taxes (tax rate: 27% for 2014 and 2013)
Return on operating capital employed = rolling four quarter average (non-cash working capital
+ property, plant and equipment + investments in associates and joint ventures + other assets)
EBIT after income taxes (tax rate: 27% for 2014 and 2013)
Return on capital employed = rolling four quarter average (non-cash working capital
+ property, plant and equipment + intangibles + goodwill
+ investments in associates and joint ventures + other assets)
Return on average shareholders’ equity = earnings (loss) from continuing operations / average shareholders’ equity
Operating coverage = gross profit - EBIT
gross profit
Cash operating coverage = gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization - EBITDA
gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization
Debt to debt-plus-equity = debt (short-term debt and long-term debt)
debt + shareholders’ equity
Net-debt to net-debt-plus-equity = net-debt (short-term debt and long-term debt, less cash and cash equivalents)
net-debt + shareholders’ equity
EBIT interest coverage = EBIT / finance costs
EBITDA interest coverage = EBITDA / finance costs

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    145


Table of Contents

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Annual Wholesale production capacity by product group                
(000’s of tonnes)(a) Nitrogen   Phosphate   Potash   Other  

Canada

Carseland, Alberta

  815                191   

Ft. Saskatchewan, Alberta

  700                  

Joffre, Alberta

  480                  

Redwater, Alberta

  1,400      660           355   

Standard/Granum, Alberta

  120                  

Vanscoy, Saskatchewan (b)

            2,035        

Total Canada

  3,515      660      2,035      546   

United States

Borger, Texas

  529                  

Cincinnati, Ohio (c)

  170                  

Conda, Idaho

       510             

Kennewick, Washington (c)

  430                  

West Sacramento, California (c)

  204                  

Americus, Georgia

                 159   

Florence, Alabama

                 137   

New Madrid, Missouri

                 263   

Total United States

  1,333      510           559   

Total North America

  4,848      1,170      2,035      1,105   

International

Profertil, Argentina (d)

  635                  

Total International

  635                  

Total including equity accounted joint venture

  5,483      1,170      2,035      1,105   

(a) Gross production.

(b) Excludes the recently completed potash expansion project which is expected to increase our effective potash capacity by approximately one million tonnes.

(c) Upgrade facilities which use purchased ammonia in production of upgrade products including UAN, Urea, and Nitric Acid.

(d) Represents 50 percent Profertil S.A. production.

 

Product analysis                    
  Nutrient  
   Nitrogen
(%N)
  Phosphorous
(%P2O5 )
  Potassium
(%K2O)
  Sulfur
(%S)
 

Anhyrous ammonia

  82                  

Urea

  46                  

Urea ammonium nitrate solutions (UAN)

  28-32                  

Monoammonium phosphate (MAP)

  11      52             

Superphosphoric acid (SPA)

       70             

Muriate of potash (MOP)

            60        

Ammonium sulfate

  21                24   

 

Production factors      
Ammonia (82% N) production of 1 tonne of ammonia requires: 32-38 MMBtu of natural gas
Urea (46% N) production of 1 tonne of urea requires: 0.58 tonnes of ammonia
0.76 tonnes of carbon dioxide
MAP (monoammonium phosphate) production of 1 tonne of MAP requires: 0.145 tonnes of ammonia
1.35 tonnes of 40% P2O5 phosphoric acid
1.91 tonnes of phosphate rock at 63% Bone Phosphate of Lime
0.475 tonnes of sulfur
UAN (32% N) production of 1 tonne of UAN requires: 0.443 tonnes of ammonium nitrate
    0.354 tonnes of urea

 

146    AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT


Table of Contents

CAPITAL STOCK & TRADING HISTORY

 

Common share data            
(millions, except where otherwise noted) 2014   2013   2012  

Average share price (USD)

  92.48      93.21      90.98   

Closing share price (USD)

  94.72      91.48      99.87   

Average share price (CAD)

  102.19      95.96      90.88   

Closing share price (CAD)

  110.00      97.17      99.14   

Period end common shares outstanding

  144      144      149   

Period end diluted shares outstanding

  144      144      149   

U.S. trading volume

  171      247      252   

Canadian trading volume

  110      123      177   

Total trading volume

  281      370      429   

Market capitalization (USD)

  13,640      13,173      14,881   

Market capitalization (CAD)

  15,840      13,992      14,772   

Dividends per share (USD)

  3.03      2.50      1.00   

 

LOGO

 

AGRIUM 2014 ANNUAL REPORT    147


Table of Contents

DIRECTORS & OFFICERS

AGRIUM’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Victor J. Zaleschuk, Board Chair

Charles V. Magro

David C. Everitt

Russell K. Girling

M. Marianne Harris

Susan A. Henry

Russell J. Horner

David J. Lesar

John E. Lowe

The Honourable Anne McLellan, P.C.

Derek G. Pannell

Mayo M. Schmidt

AGRIUM’S OFFICERS

 

Charles V. Magro President & Chief Executive Officer
Steve J. Douglas Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Stephen G. Dyer Senior Vice President and President, Retail Business Unit
Leslie A. O’Donoghue Executive Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy & Chief Risk Officer
Ron A. Wilkinson Senior Vice President and President, Wholesale Business Unit
Eric B. Miller Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer
Michael R. Webb Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Patrick J. Freeman Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy
Kevin R. Helash Vice President, Canadian Retail
Angela S. Lekatsas Vice President & Treasurer
Susan C. Jones Vice President, Marketing & Distribution
Fredrick R. Thun Vice President & Corporate Controller
Thomas E. Warner Vice President, United States Retail
Gary J. Daniel Corporate Secretary

 

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SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of Agrium Inc. will be held at 11:00 a.m. (MDT) on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at Agrium Place, Main Floor Rotunda, 13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E., Calgary, Alberta. Shareholders of record on March 9, 2015 are urged to attend and participate in the business of the meeting. It will be carried live on the Company’s web site at www.agrium.com.

STOCK EXCHANGES AND TRADING SYMBOL

Common shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges under AGU.

COMPLIANCE WITH NYSE LISTING STANDARDS ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), but as a listed foreign private issuer, the NYSE does not require us to comply with all of its listing standards regarding corporate governance. Notwithstanding this exemption, we are in compliance in all material respects with the NYSE listing standards and we intend to continue to comply with those standards so as to ensure that there are no significant differences between our corporate governance practices and those practices required by the NYSE of other publicly listed companies. Readers are also referred to the Corporate Governance Section of our web site at www.agrium.com for further information.

DIVIDEND INFORMATION

A cash dividend of seventy-eight cents U.S. per common share was paid on January 21, 2015 to shareholders of record on December 31, 2014.

A cash dividend of seventy-five cents U.S. per common share was paid on October 16, 2014 to shareholders of record on September 30, 2014.

A cash dividend of seventy-five cents U.S. per common share was paid on July 17, 2014 to shareholders of record on June 30, 2014.

A cash dividend of seventy-five cents U.S. per common share was paid on April 17, 2014 to shareholders of record on March 31, 2014.

INVESTOR & MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT

Richard Downey

Vice President, Investor and Corporate Relations

Telephone (403) 225-7357

Fax (403) 225-7609

Todd Coakwell

Director, Investor Relations

Telephone (403) 225-7437

Fax (403) 225-7609

E-mail ir@agrium.com

PRIVACY OFFICER

Telephone (403) 225-7542

Toll free (877) 247-4866

E-mail privacyofficer@agrium.com

AUDITORS

KPMG LLP

Suite 2700, 205 – 5 Avenue S.W.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 4B9

Telephone (403) 691-8000

Fax (403) 691-8008

TRANSFER AGENT – COMMON SHARES

CST Trust Company

P.O. Box 700

Station B

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

H3B 3K3

Telephone

Outside North America (416) 682-3860

Inside North America (800) 387-0825

Fax

Outside North America (514) 985-8843

Inside North America (888) 249-6189

E-mail inquiries@canstockta.com

Website www.canstockta.com

TRUSTEE – UNSECURED NOTES AND DEBENTURES

The Bank of New York Mellon

P.O. Box 396

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, New York, U.S. 13057

Attention Bondholder Relations

Telephone (800) 254-2826

Website www.bnymellon.com

 

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CORPORATE INFORMATION

CORPORATE AND WHOLESALE HEAD OFFICE

AGRIUM INC.

13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2J 7E8

Telephone (403) 225-7000

Fax (403) 225-7609

RETAIL HEAD OFFICES

CROP PRODUCTION SERVICES, INC.

3005 Rocky Mountain Avenue

Loveland, Colorado, U.S. 80538

Telephone (970) 685-3300

SOUTH AMERICA

AGROSERVICIOS PAMPEANOS S.A.

Dardo Rocha 3278, Piso 2

(B1640FTX) Martinez

Provincia de Buenos Aires

Argentina

Telephone 54-11-4717-6441

Fax 54-11-4717-4833

AUSTRALIA

LANDMARK OPERATIONS LIMITED

380 La Trobe Street

Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Australia

Telephone 61-3-9209-0001

WHOLESALE SALES OFFICES

CANADA

AGRIUM INC.

13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2J 7E8

Telephone (403) 225-7000

Fax (403) 225-7618

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

AGRIUM U.S. INC.

4582 South Ulster Street, Suite 1700

Denver, Colorado, U.S. 80237

Telephone (303) 804-4400

Fax (303) 267-1319

ARGENTINA

PROFERTIL S.A.

Puerto Ingeniero White

Zona Cangrejales

Bahia Blanca (8103)

Provincia de Buenos Aires

Argentina

Telephone 54-291-459-8191

Fax 54-291-459-8036

EUROPE

AGRIUM EUROPE S.A.

Avenue Louise 326/36

1050 Bruxelles

Belgium

Telephone +32(0)2 646 70 00

Fax +32(0)2 646 68 60

CORPORATE WEBSITE

www.agrium.com

Inquiries about shareholdings, share transfer requirements, elimination of duplicate mailings, address changes or lost certificates should be directed to CST Trust Company.

 

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LOGO

AGRIUM INC.

13131 Lake Fraser Drive S.E.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2J 7E8

Telephone (403) 225-7000

AGRIUM U.S. INC.

4582 South Ulster Street, Suite 1700

Denver, Colorado, U.S. 80237

Telephone (303) 804-4400

NYSE AND TSX: AGU

WWW.AGRIUM.COM

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