ICL beats on Q2, rewires around growth engines

Q2 sales rose 17% year on year to $2.14 billion. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 28% to $448 million, adjusted net income was up 35% at $149 million. Free cash flow of $94 million was up 34%, and net debt to adjusted EBITDA held at 1.5x. ICL declared a $75 million dividend, equal to 50% of adjusted net income.

Each of the four existing businesses contributed. The Potash segment posted sales of $468 million (up 22%) and EBITDA of $154 million (up 34%), with the realised price at $376/tonne CIF, up 13% year on year. Phosphate Solutions delivered sales of $722 million and EBITDA of $136 million. Industrial Products had its strongest quarter since late 2022, with sales up 30% at $414 million and EBITDA up 88% at $130 million on higher bromine prices. Growing Solutions grew sales 12% to $605 million, though EBITDA slipped to $50 million on higher nitrogen and sulphur costs and softness in Brazil. ICL reiterated its 2026 EBITDA guidance range of $1.5–1.7 billion and potash volume guidance of 4.5–4.7 million tonnes.

From Q1 2027, ICL will report under four new segments: Nutrition Solutions, a newly created division consolidating food, beverage, health, nutrition and wellness offerings; Industrial Products, focused on performance and safety solutions for electronics, energy and construction; Growing Solutions, unchanged and focused on specialty plant nutrition; and Essential Minerals, which will bring the group’s upstream potash and phosphate operations — the Dead Sea, Spain, the Negev and China — into a single segment serving global agriculture markets.

“ICL exceeded expectations in the second quarter and reported solid growth across all key financial metrics, both on an annual and sequential basis, and each of our four businesses contributed to the strong sales performance,” said Elad Aharonson, president and chief executive of ICL. On the reshape, he added: “As we have begun executing our strategy, it has become increasingly clear that aligning our corporate structure with our end markets is the right approach for the future. This new structure will include dedicated food segments and will consolidate all of our industrial activities into one segment. It will also bring our potash and phosphate fertilizers together.”

Alongside the results, ICL formalised Elevate, an enterprise-wide cost-savings programme designed to reduce the cost base, expand margins, improve cash generation and strengthen earnings power. Implementation began in Q3. ICL is targeting more than $150 million of annualised EBITDA improvement by end-2027 and more than $350 million by end-2028, with roughly 50–60% expected to come from productivity gains and operational efficiencies, 30–40% from external spend, and 10–20% from SG&A optimisation. “Probably you understand that if we say that we are going to hit the $350 million, our internal target is even higher than that,” Aharonson told analysts.