Compass Minerals reports higher quarterly profit

Compass Minerals on Monday reported a 21 percent increase in first-quarter earnings as price increases for its highway deicing products helped offset lower sales during the winter months.

The Overland Park-based company said it earned $60.6 million for the three months that ended March 31, compared with $50.2 million in the same period in 2014.

Because of lower sales volumes, total quarterly revenue amounted to $393 million in the first quarter, down from $422 million in the comparable quarter last year, the company said.

“Our salt segment continued to benefit from improved highway deicing prices, while winter weather salt demand returned to more normalized levels following last year’s extreme winter,” Fran Malecha, the company’s president and chief executive said in a statement.

The Star

This story was originally published April 27, 2015 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Compass Minerals reports higher quarterly profit."