OSLO (dpa-AFX) - A significant drop in selling prices has weighed on the profits of Norwegian fertilizer group Yara at the start of the year. With sales down nearly 30 percent to just under $4.2 billion (3.8 billion euros), first-quarter operating profit (Ebitda) slumped by almost two-thirds year-on-year to $489 million, the company said in Oslo on Friday. The bottom line was $105 million, down from $947 million a year ago. A year ago, the industry as a whole had benefited from sharp price increases as Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused major uncertainty in global fertilizer markets.

Farmers in Europe and the U.S. had been reluctant to buy nitrogen fertilizer, analyst Chetan Udeshi of bank JPMorgan said in an initial reaction. As a result, in addition to the drop in prices, lower sales volumes led to a quarter well below market expectations, he said. Yara shares slumped more than five percent at the end of the week. Yara was positive about the current second quarter, saying the nitrogen fertilizer market was in better shape and demand in Europe was high. However, as long as the industry colleague of German potash producer K+S does not signal a significant recovery in sales, the consensus earnings estimates for Yara could remain under pressure, analyst Udeshi said./mis/stk