Incitec Pivot announced a review of its local fertiliser arm two months ago,saying it could eventually be sold,demerged or kept and supported with further investment.
"It will be a number of months before we have any clear indication of what the likely outcome is,"Ms Johns said.
She said it would take most of the current financial year to determine whether the fertiliser business was worth more to Incitec Pivot than anybody else.
On Tuesday,the company bookended a bumpy year marked by floods,drought and other challenges,including manufacturing interruptions,as it reported a 56 per cent fall in net profit to $152.4 million,a result just ahead of market expectations.
"Clearly a disappointing and unusual year,due to the number of one-off events,some of which were beyond our control,"Ms Johns said.
The company's Australia and Pacific fertilisers business fell to an EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) loss of $79.7 million. The business,which produces fertilisers widely used in agriculture,was hit by a long-running rail outage in Queensland.