MAUMEE, OHIO, US — The Andersons suffered a loss of $15 million in the first quarter ended March 31, with low ethanol crush margins and declining fertilizer prices impacting those business segments.

In the same quarter a year ago, the company posted net income of $6 million.

Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $7 million, up from $6 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $55.3 million for the quarter, down slightly from $55.8 million last year.

“Once again, our Trade business led the way for the quarter,” said Pat Bowe, president and chief executive officer. “The team continues to execute well and we are seeing positive results from our base business, as well as recent growth investments. The Renewables team was faced with lower ethanol crush margins to start the quarter but showed improvement over 2022 on an adjusted basis. The Nutrient & Industrial business was faced with declining fertilizer prices and deferred customer purchasing in the quarter. In April, customers have engaged and prices have firmed a bit as fieldwork began in our service geography. While some of the typical first quarter business will shift into Q2, we do not expect that all the business will be recovered.”

The Trade segment recorded pretax income of $39 million and adjusted pretax income of $24 million for the quarter compared with pretax income of $4 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Trade benefited from strong elevation margins in its assets, and excellent merchandising results across the portfolio. Its well-positioned premium food and feed ingredients business also generated good margins. All three lines of business exceeded the 2022 first quarter.

Trade is well-positioned for an expected large 2023 harvest, the company said. Unfavorable weather conditions could result in production shortfalls and continuing global supply and demand imbalances, which would allow for continued merchandising opportunities and strong elevation margins.

The Renewables segment sustained a pretax loss of $83 million and adjusted pretax income attributable to the company of $6 million in the first quarter, which is comparable to the same period in 2022.

Ethanol crush margins were weak starting the quarter but rebounded later in the period during the start of the spring maintenance season, the company said. The Andersons said its eastern corn belt production facilities remain well-positioned for corn supply and ethanol margins have strengthened further after the close of the quarter.

The Nutrient & Industrial segment posted a pretax loss of $10 million, compared with record first-quarter income in the prior year of $11 million. Significantly declining market prices continued to keep customers on the sidelines. With strong farmer income and planted acres anticipated to be high, second-quarter volumes are expected to improve, but some of the margin decline is not likely to be recovered, the company said.

“We are making good progress on several growth opportunities,” Bowe said. “We remain focused on executing within our stated strategy in our core grain and fertilizer verticals, including further focus on renewables and new opportunities in renewable diesel feedstocks. We remain confident in the long-term outlook for the company and achieving our previously stated goal.”