FMC Corporation (FMC) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending June 30, 2023

August 3, 2023 9:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call for the FMC Corporation. This event is being recorded and all participants are in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Zack Zaki, Director of Investor Relations for FMC Corporation. Please go ahead.

Zack Zaki

Thank you, Glenn, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to FMC Corporation's second quarter earnings call.

Joining me today are Mark Douglas, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Andrew Sandifer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mark will review our second quarter performance as well as provide an outlook for the rest of the year. Andrew will provide an overview of select financial results. Following the prepared remarks, we will take questions.

Our earnings release and today's slide presentation are available on our website, and the prepared remarks from today's discussion will be made available after the call.

Let me remind you that today's presentation and discussion will include forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning certain factors, including, but not limited to, those factors identified in our earnings release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Information presented represents our best judgment based on today's understanding. Actual results may vary based upon these risks and uncertainties.

Today's discussion and the supporting materials will include references to adjusted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted cash from operations, free cash flow, net debt and organic revenue growth, all of which are non-GAAP financial measures. Please note that, as used in today's discussion, earnings means adjusted earnings and EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. A reconciliation and definition of these terms as well as other non-GAAP financial terms to which we may refer during today's conference call are provided on our website.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Mark.

Mark Douglas

Thank you, Zack, and good morning, everyone. Our second quarter results are detailed on slides 3, 4 and 5.

Sales in the quarter were significantly impacted by a substantial decline in volumes across all four regions. During our first quarter earnings call, we already had reduced our outlook for the crop protection market and thought that it would decline by low single digits this year. We now believe this is no longer a valid assumption. Considering the abrupt and intense destocking by growers in the distribution channel in the second quarter, we now expect the global crop protection market to contract by high single digits to low double digits. Even as on-the-ground consumption by growers remains at levels similar to last year and planted acres continue to grow in key geographies.