Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending December 31, 2022

March 2, 2023 10:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the SQM Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions]. Please note, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Irina Axenova of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Irina Axenova

Good morning. Welcome to joining SQM's earnings conference call for the fourth quarter of 2022. This conference call will be recorded and is being webcast live. Our earnings press release and our presentation with a summary of the results have been uploaded to our website where you can also find a link to this webcast.

Speaking on the call today will be Ricardo Ramos, Chief Executive Officer; and Gerardo Illanes, Chief Financial Officer; Carlos Diaz, Executive Vice President of Lithium; Felipe Smith, Commercial Vice President of Lithium and Juan Pablo, Bellolio Commercial Vice President of Iodine will be also available to answer any questions.

Before we begin, let me remind you that, statements in this conference concerning the company's business outlook, future economic performances, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses or other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or service line growth, together with other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, as that term is defined under federal securities laws.

Any forward-looking statements are estimates, reflecting the best judgment of SQM based on currently available information and involves a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements.

Risks, uncertainties and factors that could affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements are identified in our public filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and in our earnings release issued today. And these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of those factors. We assume no obligation to update such statements, whether as a result of our new information, future developments or otherwise, except, as required by law.

I now leave you with our Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Ramos.

Ricardo Ramos

Thank you, Irina. Good morning and thank you for joining the call today. We are very pleased with the 2022 results we published last night. Leasing business contributed to almost 80% of our gross profit for the year, driven by significantly higher sales volumes and average prices.