Australia's largest fertilizer producer Incitec Pivot, revealed its complete year earnings on Monday, and posted a net loss of A$179.9 Million ($168 Million), reflecting an "unexpected goodwill writedown" of the firm's Dyno Nobel explosives division. Dyno was purchased by Incitec in June 2008. The current figures have been the exact opposite of figures posted for last year, which showed a profit of A$604.4 Million.

In the year ending September 30, Incitec posted sales worth A$3.42 Billion, which is a 17% hike from the A$2.92 Billion worth of sales for the same period the previous year. This is the period which reflects the company's first complete year of Dyno ownership, which accounted for almost 50% of its revenue for the 2009 Fiscal year.

While sales of Nitrogen-based explosives surged more than three times to 2.5 million tons as compared to last year, fertilizer sales dipped 20% to 2.6 million metric tons, a substantial fall from the 3.3 million metric tons recorded for last year. Chief Executive James Fazzino shared that his firm had experienced "unprecedented global volatility". While global application of fertilizers has dropped by 30%, prices have slipped by 60%.

"For 2010, our view is that it'll be another challenging year, with tough trading conditions in each of our markets", Fazzino shared.