Fertilizer firm Agrium Inc.'s quarterly profit dropped sharply on lower nutrient prices

(Dow Jones) -- Fertilizer firm Agrium Inc.'s quarterly profit dropped sharply on lower nutrient prices.Calgary, Alberta-based Agrium, which agreed to merge with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., has been hit hard by a market slump.This year Agrium expects to make $4.50 to $6 a share, compared with the $4.29 a share it made in 2016. Analysts were projecting $5.83 in per-share earnings for 2017, according to Thomson Reuters.Over all, fourth-quarter profit dropped two-thirds to $67 million, or 49 cents a share. Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, profit fell to 60 cents a share from $1.52 a share a year earlier.Sales rose 5.3% to $2.28 billion.Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected 68 cents a share on $2.18 billion in revenue.In the latest period, crop nutrient sales fell 8% from a year earlier, while crop-protection product sales rose 15%.Agrium noted that realized selling prices for potash, a key fertilizer ingredient, fell 33% internationally and 25% in North America.Last month, Potash Corp. reported a 71% drop in fourth-quarter profit and a 22% sales decline, also hit by the slump in fertilizer-nutrient prices which outweighed higher volumes.Shares, which last month set a 52-week high, closed Thursday 1% down at $104.02.