Ovostar Agro Holding proposes that its shareholders waive the payment of dividends for the year 2023 and allocate the entire net profit of $44.975 million to the retained earnings reserve.
According to the company’s announcement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the relevant issue is on the agenda of the annual shareholders’ meeting scheduled for August 21.
Other issues include the re-election of one of Ovostar’s three non-executive directors, Markiyan Markevich.
As reported, the company last paid interim dividends for 2022 of EUR3.6 million at the rate of EUR0.65 per share, but then refused to pay the final dividend.
Ovostar Union is a vertically integrated holding company, one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine. “In 2023, Ovostar increased its net profit by 7.4 times to $45 million, EBITDA by 4.5 times to $50.4 million, and revenue by 20% to $162.5 million.
In mid-June 2011, the group’s holding company, Ovostar Union N.V., conducted an IPO of 25% of its shares on the WSE at PLN62 per share ($22.78 at the then exchange rate) and raised $33.2 million.
At the end of May this year, the majority shareholders of the agricultural holding, CEO Boris Belikov and board member Vitaliy Veresenko, who own 65.93% of the shares, announced that they, together with Fairfax Financial Holding, had accumulated 95.45% of the shares in the agricultural holding and were ready to buy out the remaining 4.55% of the shares held by minority shareholders. During the announced voluntary buyout at a price of PLN70 (about $17.5) per share, they acquired another 56,027 shares, or 0.934%, and now own 96.383%.
“The offerors intend to exercise the squeeze-out right … in order to acquire 100% of the company’s shares at a price of PLN70 per share,” Ovostar said in early July, recalling its delisting plans.
Currently, Ovostar shares are listed on the stock exchange at PLN68.6 per share.
Internal and external debt of Ukraine from 2010 till April 2024
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
Smartphone shipments in China in the second quarter grew by 10% year-on-year to more than 70 million units, according to analyst firm Canalys. For the first time in history, the top five positions in the list of the largest smartphone vendors in China are held by local companies, said Canalys analyst Lucas Zhong.
The market leader was the vivo brand, which increased sales by 15% year-on-year to 13.1 million smartphones and gained a market share of 19%. OPPO took second place with a market share of 16%, despite a 1% decline in sales. HONOR was third (15% of the market, 10.7 million devices sold), Huawei was fourth (also 15%, 10.6 million), and Xiaomi (SPB: 1810) was fifth (14%, 10 million).
The American Apple Inc. sold only 9.7 million smartphones in China last quarter, which dropped it out of the top 5 leading suppliers. Its market share dropped to 14% from 15% in the first quarter and 16% in the second quarter of last year.
According to a preliminary estimate by another research company, International Data Corporation (IDC), smartphone sales in China in April-June increased by 8.9% year-on-year to 71.6 million. According to the company, Apple is also not among the top five leaders in the Chinese market.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is on a visit to China. His goal is to stabilize ties with Beijing before the US presidential election, Bloomberg reports.
The visit will last from July 27 to 31. During this time, she will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
According to an anonymous source, during the talks with the Chinese leaders, the prime minister will discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine and the war in the Gaza Strip.
The publication writes that since coming to power in 2022, Meloni has tried to present herself as a diplomat capable of communicating with leaders who adhere to different ideologies, from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Now, according to another anonymous source, her ambitions have grown to include Xi Jinping in this group.
“Nova Poshta, part of the Nova group of companies, opened a post office in the Italian capital Rome this weekend, the second city where the Ukrainian company has a presence in the country after it entered the Italian market with the opening of its first office in Milan last December.
“I think that Naples or Verona will be the next cities in Italy. These two cities are in the near future. We haven’t found premises there yet, but there will be openings,” Vyacheslav Klimov, co-founder of Nova Poshta and Nova, told Interfax-Ukraine during the opening.
According to him, at the same time, the company will increase targeted delivery to any location in Italy by building contacts with local market leaders to gain access to their networks, branches and post offices.
Klimov also said that Nova Poshta also plans to offer domestic delivery in Italy.
“One of the company’s strategic principles is fast.
We don’t know how to deliver for a long time. Now it (domestic delivery) will definitely be between Milan and Rome, it will definitely be next day delivery,” the co-owner said.
In a press release, Nova Poshta also noted that along with the opening of the Rome office, it began delivering parcels to partner post offices and delivery points located throughout the country, with delivery time to Ukraine starting at 7 days.
The Rome branch is open daily, and customers can send documents, parcels and cargo up to 100 kg to and from Ukraine, within the country and between the European countries of Nova Poshta’s presence.
It is specified that Nova Poshta’s own courier delivery will soon start operating in Rome and the suburbs, as it already does in Milan, and thanks to cooperation with local logistics companies, customers will be able to send parcels across the country.
In particular, since June, customers have been able to use a new delivery service to post offices and parcel delivery points from the GLS partner network operating in any part of the country. At such service points, customers can receive prepaid parcels weighing up to 25 kg and no more than 41x38x64 cm. Thus, according to the release, today the Nova Poshta network in Italy consists of two branches, 2000 post offices and 4500 parcel delivery points.
Italy, according to Eurostat, is the fifth largest European country with the number of Ukrainians with temporary protection status: at the end of May, there were 165.13 thousand of them, which is 0.50 thousand more than in April.
The governments of the United States and Japan have announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening their military ties amid growing aggression from China, The New York Times reports.
Lloyd J. Austin III, US Secretary of Defense, Anthony J. Blinken, US Secretary of State, Yoko Kamikawa, Japanese Foreign Minister, and Minoru Kihara, Japanese Defense Minister, held a press conference in Tokyo to express concern over China’s rapid military build-up.
The new measures include the creation of a joint force headquarters subordinate to the U.S. commander in the Indo-Pacific, as well as increased joint production of air-to-air missiles and air defense interceptors. Anthony Blinken noted that the new headquarters will allow for closer cooperation to ensure greater peace and stability.
These changes are a response to China’s aggressive actions in East Asia, particularly in the East China and South China Seas. In addition, they emphasized the importance of the mutual defense clause in the US-Japan treaty in the face of growing security threats.
U.S. and Japanese officials reaffirmed their strong opposition to China’s attempts to change the status quo through force or coercion. During the 2+2 meeting in Tokyo, they discussed further steps to strengthen the alliance, especially in light of the upcoming changes in the US leadership following President Biden’s announcement of his re-election bid.
Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin also discussed the deployment of U.S. troops in the region, which remains a key deterrent against possible conflicts with China or North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Biden previously announced increased military cooperation, including Japan’s purchase of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Further cooperation includes the production of Patriot interceptor missiles, which are being supplied to Ukraine to protect it from Russian attacks. After their visit to Tokyo, Blinken and Austin plan to visit the Philippines to participate in another 2+2 dialog.
Thus, the United States and Japan are taking significant steps to strengthen their military alliance to ensure peace and stability in the region amid growing tensions with China.
