A slump in fertilizer profits, prompted by farm cutbacks on nutrient use, dragged quarterly earnings down by two-thirds at Andersons, the rail-to-silos group.

The report sent the company's shares down 8.4% to $27.93 in morning trade on the Nasdaq exchange.

Andersons reported earnings of $15.9m for the April-to-June period, equivalent to $0.87 a share, falling below Wall Street forecasts.

Analysts had expected earnings, which came in at $2.52 a share last year, at $0.98 a share this time round.

The Ohio-based group's decline was led by its fertilizer division, where pre-tax profits slumped 78% to $10.3m, reflecting falling sales and "significantly lower" margins.

"Retailers reducing their nutrient inventory holdings, and lower applications rates… led to reduced sales volume," Andersons said.

Ethanol hit 

Profits at its biggest division, grain and ethanol, slipped 55% to $8.66m on sales down 28% at $500.4m, reflecting a weaker ethanol market and a cut in returns from the group's investment in the Lansing trading business.

Rail profits tumbled 88% to $619m, as the "overall economic decline" cut to 81%, from 93%, in utilisation of its wagons.

"We would have liked better results this quarter," Andersons chief executive Mike Anderson said.