The company said the figure included the release of a non-cash contract in the prior period related to its Moranbah ammonium nitrate complex in Queensland.
Excluding the release of this liability, Incitec’s profit for the half year decreased by 10%.
Sales revenue during the half was down 8% compared to the same time last year at $1.4 billion.
Reported earnings for the period before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were down 12% compared to last year at $255 million.
The slide exposes a performance discrepancy between the group’s Australian explosives business which improved earnings 7% to $146.8 million year-on-year and its fertiliser business which saw earnings decrease 19% to $49.6 million.
Incitec managing director James Fazzino highlighted inherent differences in the company’s portfolio of businesses and said progress in the explosives division was partially a result of an internal continuous improvement initiative known as business excellence, or BEx.
“The increase reflects the benefit of the Australian explosives business entering into long-term customer contracts, the initial production from the Moranbah ammonium nitrate plant and the benefits that BEx has generated in the North American business,” he said.
“The result continues to support our strategy of investing in the explosives business, which will continue to be realised over the coming years as the Moranbah plant is fully commissioned and the Louisiana ammonia plant is constructed.
“BEx continues as a major driver of improving productivity from the ground up across our manufacturing supply chain and logistics functions where the greatest benefits can be developed and owned by our people.”
In the first half of the year, BEx delivered $13 million in benefits via the company’s North American business and its Phosphate Hill plant in Queensland.
The company also advised that an 800,000-tonne ammonia plant planned to be built in the US state of Louisiana would begin production at full rates in the third quarter of the 2016 calendar year.
Fazzino said the $US850 million ($A844 million) project was strategically attractive as the US ammonium nitrate business backward integrated to gas, leveraging Incitec’s core manufacturing competency and driving margin improvements in the explosives business.
Shares in Incitec were trading 3.5% higher today at $A2.93.
