PotashCorp declared its quarterly dividend as well as announced its SQM option exercise on the PCS Yumbes. Its board revealed a quarterly dividend totaling to $0.25 per share, which will be payable on February 13, 2015 to its shareholders.
The company also informed the public that the SQM or Sociedad Quimica y Minera has done its option of acquiring the PotashCorp’s interest in the PCS Yumbes. The two parties have agreed to enter into a joint purchase agreement, in which the SQM will acquire the stocks or shares of the PCS Yumbes to meet an aggregate of purchase price totaling to $35M, but are subject to adjustments.
The closing of the deal is expected to transpire no later than the end of this year, but before this closing, PCS Yumbes is said to impact the PotashCorp’s gross margin negatively by up to $19M in 2014. The said impact is included in the current earnings policy, but moving forward, the PotashCorp look at a gross margin to benefit with such impact’s absence. The company also revealed that it is expecting its effective tax rate, consolidated, for 2014 to estimate 35 percent, while estimating 75 percent of the tax rate is expected to be deferred income tax.