QUARTERLY RESULTS
Net sales
Net sales of $260.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, increased $29.1 million, or 13%, as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023. Animal Health increased $22.0 million, while Mineral Nutrition and Performance Products increased $3.0 million and $4.1 million, respectively.
Animal Health
Net sales of $182.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, increased $22.0 million, or 14%. Net sales of MFAs and other increased $13.7 million, or 15%, primarily driven by increased sales of processing aids used in the fermentation industry and higher sale volumes due in part to increased demand for our MFAs in both domestic and international regions.
Net sales of nutritional specialty products increased $2.4 million, or 6%, primarily due to higher sales of microbial and companion animal products.
Net sales of vaccines increased $5.8 million, or 22%, primarily due to an increase in poultry product demand in Latin America, plus an increase in both domestic and international demand.
Mineral Nutrition
Net sales of $59.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, increased $3.0 million, or 5%, primarily due to an increase in demand for trace minerals.
Performance Products
Net sales of $18.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, increased $4.1 million, or 27%, as a result of higher demand for the ingredients used in personal care products.
Gross profit
Gross profit of $83.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, increased $15.8 million, or 23%, as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023. Gross margin increased 280 basis points to 32.1% of net sales for the three months ended September 30, 2024, as compared to 29.3% for the three months ended September 30, 2023. The improvement in gross margin is primarily due to favorable product mix and lower input costs.
Animal Health gross profit increased $13.7 million due to higher sales volume. Mineral Nutrition gross profit increased $0.9 million, driven by higher sales volume, partially offset by a decrease in average selling prices. Performance Products gross profit increased $1.1 million primarily as a result of higher demand.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) of $65.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, decreased $2.7 million, or 4%, as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023. SG&A for the three months ended September 30, 2024 included $3.4 million for acquisition-related costs, $0.4 million of costs associated with Phibro Forward income growth initiatives, and $0.2 million of stock-based compensation expense. SG&A for the three months ended September 30, 2023 included $10.4 million of pension settlement cost and $0.1 million of stock-based compensation expense. Excluding these items, SG&A increased $3.9 million.
Animal Health SG&A increased $2.2 million, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs, due in part to support new product launches and business activities related to the Acquisition, and partially offset by lower research and development expense. Mineral Nutrition and Performance Products SG&A were comparable to the prior year. Corporate costs increased by $1.7 million due to an increase in employee-related costs.