ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) executives told investors the company finished 2025 “solidly,” met its annual guidance target, and entered 2026 focused on two strategic growth engines—Specialty Crop Nutrition and Specialty Food Solutions—while continuing to optimize its core mineral businesses.
Fourth-quarter and full-year results
CEO Elad Aharonson said ICL achieved its annual guidance target with $1 billion of “specialty-driven EBITDA”. For the fourth quarter, the company reported sales of $1.701 billion, up 6% year-over-year, with sales growth across all four segments. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $380 million, up 10%, and adjusted diluted EPS was $0.09, up 13%. Operating cash flow was $340 million, which the company said improved 2% sequentially.
CFO Aviram Lahav said pricing contributed meaningfully to results, but volumes declined, and raw material inflation and currency movements remained important variables. He also noted that ocean freight rates declined nearly 25% over the same period the company tracks, and that bromine prices in China continued to improve in the fourth quarter.
Strategic moves: Bartek acquisition, portfolio changes, and Dead Sea agreement
Aharonson highlighted ICL’s acquisition of Bartek Ingredients, describing it as a global leader in food-grade malic and fumaric acids with distribution to more than 40 countries. He said the deal deepens ICL’s specialty food portfolio and supports expansion into additional food ingredient segments by leveraging the company’s global food presence.
Management also described portfolio actions intended to fund its two targeted growth engines and reduce exposure to activities viewed as less aligned. Actions discussed included:
- Discontinuing ICL’s downstream LFP battery material projects in St. Louis and Spain.
- Closing a minor R&D facility in Israel.
- Initiating a sales process for the company’s Boulby operations in the U.K.
On the Dead Sea concession, Aharonson said ICL signed an MOU with the State of Israel in November and then signed a binding agreement in January based on the MOU’s principles. He said the agreement secured compensation for Dead Sea assets with certainty on payment timing and included assurance of bromine supply through at least 2035. He added that ICL intends to participate in the future concession process once it begins, assuming terms are economically viable and the regulatory environment is stable.
Segment performance and market conditions
In Industrial Products, ICL reported fourth-quarter sales of $296 million (up 6%) and EBITDA of $68 million. Aharonson said bromine prices continued rising, though some end markets such as building and construction remained soft. Flame retardant sales were flat year-over-year, with higher bromine pricing offset by lower volumes. Clear brine fluids demand stayed solid, supported by South America and Europe, while specialty minerals benefited from strong pre-season magnesium chloride demand after early snowfall in the U.S.
In Potash, fourth-quarter sales were $473 million (up 12%) and EBITDA was $150 million (up 15%). The average potash price was $348 CIF per ton, up more than 20% year-over-year, with fourth-quarter volume of 1.2 million metric tons up roughly 15%. Management said it addressed operational issues at the Dead Sea related to the war and recorded a quarterly production record in Spain after debottlenecking and optimization efforts. ICL also cited a contract with Chinese customers at $348 per metric ton, in line with other industry settlements.
In Phosphate Solutions, management said EBITDA was pressured by higher sulfur costs. Fourth-quarter sales rose 2% to $518 million, with EBITDA of $121 million. Aharonson said food specialties volumes grew in North America and Asia, processed meat sales increased across the U.S. and EU, and food sales in China increased 15% in the fourth quarter. He said the company expanded its food project pipeline with nearly 40 new solutions since mid-2025 and will continue evaluating M&A. He also said the company is targeting growth options in 2026 including emulsifiers and R&D such as a high-protein drink stabilization system for GLP-1 users. Meanwhile, management said Europe remained soft and sulfur costs “show no signs of abating in 2026.”
In Growing Solutions, fourth-quarter sales increased 6% to $467 million and EBITDA rose 18% to $60 million. Aharonson cited profit improvement in North America due to pricing and in Europe due to a higher-margin product mix. Asia sales improved, though rising raw material costs weighed on profits. In Brazil, management said affordability issues and shifting distributor buying behavior pressured the market, but ICL said it maintained solid sales and expanded specialty market share.
2026 outlook: guidance, risks, and key sensitivities
For 2026, ICL guided consolidated EBITDA to a range of $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion. The company also expects potash sales volume of 4.5 million to 4.7 million metric tons and an annual adjusted tax rate of approximately 30%.
In Q&A, management pointed to potential upside drivers including higher potash production and sales volumes, possible potash price upside, and potential bromine price upside after the Chinese New Year given China’s role as a major bromine market. On the downside, executives emphasized two headwinds: sulfur costs—which management said rose from about $140-$150 roughly 18 months ago to more than $500—and the strengthening shekel versus the U.S. dollar.
Lahav described ICL as “above about $1 billion short shekel,” adding that as a general yardstick, each 1% move equates to roughly $10 million. He said the company assumed an exchange rate around 3.10 on an unhedged basis and “over 3.20” on a hedged basis, with about 50% hedged for the year (noting the company typically hedges around 60%).
On Brazil, executives characterized the credit environment as challenging not only because of high rates but also because of credit availability, with suppliers effectively acting as lenders. Management said it is cautious in balancing growth with risk and suggested conditions may be near a trough, though uncertainty remains.
Addressing batteries, management said ICL will continue supplying raw materials in China, where it described its operation as successful, but it does not expect to pursue downstream LFP cathode material manufacturing in the U.S. or Europe “anytime soon, if at all,” citing shifts in market conditions and lack of competitive advantage.
In closing remarks, Aharonson said ICL expects to discuss a cost transformation program next quarter and characterized the company as being in a “transformation phase” as it advances the strategy announced in the third quarter.
About ICL Group (NYSE:ICL)
ICL Group is a global specialty minerals and chemicals company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Established in its current form through the consolidation of Israeli government–owned chemical operations, ICL has evolved into a publicly traded entity on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ICL). The company’s origins date back to state-driven mineral extraction in the Negev and the Dead Sea region, and over the decades it has grown through strategic acquisitions, technological innovation and a gradual privatization process completed in the early 2010s.
ICL’s core operations are organized into three principal business areas.
