Univar Starts Distribution Deal With Novozymes In Canada

Univar Inc. (NYSE:UNVR) recently announced that NexusAg has initiated the sole distribution agreement with Novozymes for its downstream biological products in Canada. Notably, the products comprise a major portion of the inoculants portfolio. Moreover, the start of this agreement allows NexusAg to be renamed as NexusBioAg, a trusted source for crop nutrition.

Per Univar, the deal is a strategic collaboration and pertinent to the increasingly-advanced Canadian agricultural industry. The companies will combine decades of industry experience as well as its extensive reach and logistics. Univar’s NexusBioAg has dedicated sales presence, which is aimed at introducing superior market intelligence data and analytics to predict trends and drive growth.

Notably, the agreement includes the addition of Novozymes' leading product brands (including Optimize ST, JumpStart and TagTeam LCO) to the NexusBioAg’s extensive portfolio of biological and crop fertility products. The agreement brings onboard a diverse group of agricultural experts for providing services to Canadian farmers and crop retailers.

Univar’s shares have lost 24.7% in the past year compared with the 34.6% decline of the industry.

For 2019, the company expects adjusted EBITDA between $740 million and $760 million. The projected figure reflects 10-months earnings from the Nexeo Chemicals business and net realized synergies worth roughly $10 million. The company also expects to generate free cash flow worth $300-$350 million in 2019.

Moreover, Univar projects adjusted EBITDA between $195 million and $200 million for the second quarter, up from $173.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Univar currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRM) , Flexible Solutions International Inc (NYSE:FSI) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) plc (NYSE:RIO) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

SSR Mining has an expected earnings growth rate of 100% for 2019. The company’s shares have gained 44.8% in the past year.

Flexible Solutions has projected earnings growth rate of 342.9% for the current year. The company’s shares have surged 145.7% in a year’s time.

Rio Tinto has an estimated earnings growth rate of 38.7% for the current year. Its shares have moved up 11% in the past year.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.

Click here for the 6 trades >>