Astarta Agroholding cut its net profit by 5.0% to EUR61.9m in 2023, while its EBITDA fell by 6.1% to EUR145.77m, the company said in its annual report on Wednesday evening.
“EBITDA margin decreased by 7 percentage points (p. p.) year-on-year to 23%, reflecting lower crop prices, higher selling expenses and a change in the basis of supply in the sale of crops,” the document said.
According to it, Astarta’s revenue last year increased by 21.3% to EUR618.93m, gross profit by 7.8% to EUR223.59m, while operating profit decreased by 12.2% to EUR95.78m.
It is specified that the Agriculture segment contributed 39% of consolidated revenue or EUR240 million in 2023 (+33% y-o-y), while the Livestock segment contributed 7% of total revenue or EUR43 million in 2023 (+10% y-o-y).
Sales of the Sugar Production segment grew by 28% y-o-y to EUR199m and accounted for 32% of total revenue in the period under review, while the Soy Processing segment contributed 20% of Astarta’s revenue or EUR122m, unchanged y-o-y.
According to the report, export sales accounted for about 53% of consolidated revenue or EUR325m last year.
The lower gross profit growth is due to the lower effect of the revaluation of the fair value of biological assets in the cost of revenue (EUR60 mln in 2023 vs. EUR73 mln in 2022), reflecting cheaper commodities and changes in exchange rates.
It is indicated that in UAH terms, Astarta increased net profit by 11.9% to UAH2bn 452.81m in 2023 on revenue growth of 39.3% to UAH24bn 446.26m.
According to the report, cash flow from operating activities amounted to EUR91m vs. EUR39m in 2022 due to lower working capital outflows, while cash flow from investment activities increased 2.6 times to EUR40m, with the largest investments in soybean processing and sugar production.
Net financial debt (net of lease liabilities) declined by 10% last year to EUR39m, while net debt increased slightly by 3% to EUR156m due to higher lease liabilities of EUR118m vs. EUR109m in 2022.
As reported, Astarta reported EUR65.16m net profit in 2022, down 46.8% from 2021. The holding’s EBITDA decreased by 23.2% to EUR154.77m in the year before last, while revenue increased by 3.8% to EUR510.07m.
In 9M 2023, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR55.97 mln, while revenue grew by 14.8% to EUR392.00 mln. EBITDA decreased by 10.8% to EUR116.63 mln.
In UAH terms, Astarta increased its net profit by 6.9% to UAH 2 bln 219.11 mln in the first 9 months of last year, while revenue grew by 37.7% to UAH 15 bln 513.56 mln.
