Owners
Impacts
Our financial performance can affect our owners' financial well-being in two simple ways-we can
multiply
or diminish their investments. We can also help owners achieve non-financial objectives such as
supporting
a
sustainable company.
Issues
- Stability Through the Cycle - Commodity businesses often experience dramatic swings in revenue as they move through economic cycles.
- Maintaining Our Strong Financial Position - With increasing costs and company growth, it is continually a challenge to maintain our strong financial position.
- Timely and Accurate Information - Shareholders are interested in protecting and growing their investments. Consequently, they are interested in receiving timely, complete and accurate information, ensuring continuity of leadership, and knowing that risks are appropriately managed.
Involvement
We engage with our owners in a variety of ways to inform them of our progress and to understand their concerns.
- Every year we meet in person with several of our owners. More than 77 percent of our owners are institutional shareholders.
- We conduct quarterly conference calls, open to anyone, to discuss our performance results. We also hold our own investors' conference annually.
- We receive owner input regularly through our Investor Relations department, and report on owner views regularly to our Board.
- Owners are also able to contribute to company decision-making through their participation in our Annual General Meeting process. Owners are free to present resolutions for a vote; however, this did not happen in the reporting period.
- Good disclosure is a basic expectation our owners have of Agrium. In addition to timely release of regulated financial reports, we see this sustainability report as an important means of engaging owners and providing them with information they might need to make or reaffirm an investment decision.
Implementation
Our Investor Relations department is responsible for understanding and responding to our owners' interests. Numerous business and accounting policies and procedures address specific financial issues. We use a risk management process to ensure that we identify and mitigate our significant risks. Although financial and market risks are prominent among stakeholder concerns, we also track and address risks on issues such as climate change, labor shortages, security of supply and community dynamics. By addressing these risks, and more, we return value to our stakeholders.
Stability Through the Cycle
To increase the stability of earnings through economic cycles, Agrium is executing a strategy of globally diversifying by product, business and geography across the value chain. In the past two years we have taken significant steps in the execution of this strategy by:
- Acquiring Nu-Gro, Pursell Technologies Inc., and Royster Clark;
- Expanding ESN and potash production capacity; and
- Entering into the Chinese market.
Maintaining Our Strong Financial Position
To stay strong financially, we strive to maintain our lowest cost position, a strong balance sheet, and to make investments that create value for our owners over the long term. In the past two years, we have significantly expanded our Retail business, which provides more stable earnings for the company through pricing cycles. We have also expanded our global product reach with an investment in China. With our strong sales of crop nutrients, we are well positioned to capitalize on high global grain prices.
Our strategy to maintain a low-cost position in our Wholesale fertilizer business was demonstrated in our investment announcement of a world-scale nitrogen facility in Egypt. The facility has access to low-cost natural gas and key export markets such as the United States and Europe.
Timely and Accurate Information
To ensure accuracy, all financial information disclosures are third-party audited. We also conducted an internal audit of the data gathering processes used for data in this report.
Indicators
Economic Value Generated and Distributed
Beyond the financial relationships we have with our owners, employees, suppliers, communities and others, our operations contribute to other socio-economic dimensions of well-being. Although they cannot be measured by dollars, opportunities for human development, certainty through long-term agreements, and improvements to infrastructure are all important impacts we have on our stakeholders.
| Units | 2007 | |
| Generated | ||
| Revenues, Interest and Other Income | $ million | 5,313 |
| Distributed/Paid | ||
| Purchaes of Goods and Services | $ million | 3,251 |
| Taxes | $ million | 137 |
| Employee Wages and Benefits | $ million | 808 |
| Charitable Contributions | $ million | 1 |
| Dividends | $ million | 15 |
| Interest | $ million | 70 |
| Net Earnings | $ million | 441 |
Share Price
During the past two years, Agrium's share price has increased in value by 228 percent. Over the longer term, our share price has increased 492 percent since 1997 year end.
The graph shows Agrium's share price and the Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average.

Profit Profile
In the past several years we have been able to diversify our company and consequently the origin of our revenues. Due to strong nutrient prices, nitrogen still contributes approximately 50 percent of our earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and asset impairment (EBITDA).
The graph shows Agrium's 2007 EBITDA by business and product. International Nitrogen includes sales from our Argentina and Alaska facilities.


