Comparison of six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
Net sales
Net sales of $569.7 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, increased $88.4 million, or 18%, as compared to the six months ended December 31, 2023. Animal Health sales increased $78.3 million. Mineral Nutrition and Performance Products sales increased $4.9 million and $5.2 million, respectively.
Animal Health
Net sales of $411.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, increased $78.3 million, or 23%. Net sales of MFAs and other increased $62.1 million, or 32%, due to incremental revenues of $36.7 million from sales of products from the Zoetis MFA portfolio acquired on October 31, 2024, increased demand for our MFAs in international regions and higher demand for processing aids used in the ethanol fermentation industry.
Net sales of nutritional specialty products increased $6.9 million, or 8%, primarily due to increased domestic dairy demand and higher sales of microbial and companion animal products.
Net sales of vaccines increased $9.3 million, or 17%, due primarily to continued growth of poultry products in Latin America, plus an increase in domestic demand.
Mineral Nutrition
Net sales of $122.3 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, increased $4.9 million, or 4%, due to an increase in demand for copper and trace minerals.
Performance Products
Net sales of $35.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, increased $5.2 million, or 17%, as a result of higher demand for the ingredients used in personal care products.
Gross profit
Gross profit of $185.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, increased $39.0 million, or 27%, as compared to the six months ended December 31, 2023. Gross margin increased 210 basis points to 32.5% of net sales for the six months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to 30.4% for the six months ended December 31, 2023. The comparison to the prior year includes a net increase of $1.3 million for acquisition-related cost of goods sold related to purchase accounting adjustments for acquisitions. Excluding this purchase accounting item, gross margin increased $40.4 million, or 28%, and increased 240 basis points to 32.8% of net sales due to increased sales, an increase in average selling prices, and the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates.
Animal Health gross profit increased $34.6 million, primarily driven by higher sales volume, higher average selling prices, and the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, partially offset by unfavorable product mix. Mineral Nutrition gross profit increased $3.4 million, driven by higher average selling price. Performance Products gross profit increased $2.4 million, driven by increased sales volumes.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
SG&A of $142.1 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, increased $10.8 million, or 8%, as compared to the six months ended December 31, 2023. SG&A for the six months ended December 31, 2024, included $12.2 million for acquisition-related costs, $2.0 million of costs associated with Phibro Forward income growth initiatives, and $0.4 million of stock-based compensation expense, partially offset by $1.3 million related to an insurance settlement gain. SG&A for the six months ended December 31, 2023, included a $10.7 million pension settlement costs, $4.2 million cost for an unfavorable litigation result related to Brazil employment taxes paid from January 2013 through December 2015, and $0.2 million of stock-based compensation expense. Excluding these items, SG&A increased $12.4 million.