The EVA chain of perfume and cosmetics stores opened 59 new stores and increased its turnover by 40% in 2023 compared to 2022, the company’s press service reports.
“While in 2022, the company’s efforts were more focused on maintaining its business, 2023 was a year of development for it. We increased the turnover in LFL stores by 40% compared to 2022. At the end of the year, we had about the same number of customers as in pre-war 2021, and lost 6.5% in transactions compared to it. These results were very difficult for us. But together with the whole country, we have gained a lot of experience – we have learned how to live in war and, even in such conditions, to move forward whenever possible,” said Olga Shevchenko, Executive Director of RUSH LLC (EVA stores and EVA.UA online store).
In 2023, the company opened 59 new outlets, mostly in the Women’s Energy design introduced at the end of last year. As of December 31, the chain had 1061 operating stores. Of these, 50 were Women’s Energy stores. In September, the company introduced a Skin Health Center with a range of dermatocosmetics from leading global brands in a shop-in-shop format. By the end of the year, two such outlets were operating in Dnipro and Kyiv. In December, the EVA Beauty store was tested in Kyiv’s Respublika Park shopping center.
“The first month of its operation exceeded our expectations. However, it is too early to discuss the results. The store is operating in test mode. We are still making improvements to it, and it should be the way we intended it to be by the end of the first half of the year,” Shevchenko said.
The company plans to open about 60 more stores in 2024. The planned investments in this area amount to about UAH 200 million.
In addition, in 2023, EVA launched six new retail outlets. Thus, the company’s private label portfolio includes 58 brands. This is more than 5000 SKUs in almost all categories represented in the chain’s assortment. In 2024, the company added beauty gadgets, professional gel polishes, and aroma diffusers to its private label portfolio.
In total, about 110 million units of private label products were sold during the year. The share of private label in the company’s total sales is 33.9% in physical terms and 22.8% in monetary terms.
To improve efficiency, EVA invests heavily in logistics development, including the construction and modernization of warehouse facilities. In Lviv, a new 9 thousand square meters warehouse for e-commerce is being built next to the existing warehouse. The area of the existing warehouses in Brovary and Lviv is being expanded by introducing mezzanines. An e-commerce hub was launched in Dnipro in September.
“We simplify and automate warehouse processes as much as possible, which speeds up the flow of orders through the supply chain,” said Olga Shevchenko.
She added that this is facilitated by our own selection system. In addition, the offline warehouses have implemented the Put to light system, which allows them to avoid using picking terminals, speed up the adaptation of new employees and increase productivity.
In 2024, the system is planned to be partially implemented in e-com warehouses. EVA also plans to automate storage systems: introduce AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) and AS/RS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems).
In 2023, the project to build a logistics hub in Odesa resumed after a pause. The procurement of the necessary materials and structures, as well as other preparatory work, is ongoing. The area of the first stage of the Odesa hub should be 20 thousand square meters. Construction work will continue in 2025-2026.
Preliminary investments in logistics infrastructure in 2024 may amount to up to UAH 1.3 billion.
RUSH LLC, which manages the EVA network, was founded in 2002. It owns 52 private labels (PL), which are represented by household goods, perfumes, cosmetics, jewelry, personal care products, accessories, underwear, and children’s products. In 2022, the share of FMCG sales in physical terms was 30.6%. The company employs about 13.4 thousand people.
Turkish defense company Baykar has begun construction of a plant near Kyiv that will employ about 500 people and produce TB2 or TB3 drone models, the company’s CEO told Reuters on Tuesday.
The Turkish-made Bayraktar drones gained widespread popularity worldwide after the Ukrainian military began using them to counter Russian forces, destroying armored vehicles and artillery systems.
Baykar said it has signed export agreements for its TB2 drone with 30 countries. Among them are Ukraine, Ethiopia, Libya and Azerbaijan since 2018, according to the SIPRI think tank.
“Our plant is under construction… we need about 12 months to finish the construction, and then we will move on to the internal machinery, equipment and organizational structure,” Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said on the sidelines of the Riyadh World Defense Exhibition.
“The plant in Ukraine is large, we plan to employ about 500 people,” he said. Bayraktar noted that the production capacity will be about 120 units per year, but said it is not yet clear whether production at the Ukrainian plant will focus on the TB2 or TB3 drone model.
Asked if security issues related to the ongoing conflict would be a concern for the plant, he said that plans are “fully progressing” and “nothing” can stop them.
As reported earlier, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and Turkish company Baykar Makina signed an agreement to build a service center for the repair and maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine.
Mobile operator lifecell opened 48 branded stores in 2023, increasing their total number by 11.4%, the lifecell press service said on Tuesday.
“Over the past year, lifecell has been actively expanding its network of sales outlets and opened 48 new stores in 18 regions of Ukraine, including cities where there were no branded stores before,” the company said in a statement.
According to the report, more than 470 stores have been opened in 247 cities and towns, employing about 1,000 people. In particular, residents of Artsyz, Bobrovytsia, Burshtyn, Vilnohirsk, Horodnia, Horodok, Dolynska, Yelanets, Zhovti Vody, Ivankiv, Irshava, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Kotsiubynske, Lokhvytsia, Pyriatyn, Pochaiv, Staryi Sambir, Chornobai and Yarmolyntsi now have access to lifecell branded stores.
In addition, it is stated that in 2023 lifecell deepened its cooperation with the postal service Meest Express. According to the report, the mobile operator has equipped all stores with Meest delivery points where such services can be provided.
lifecell is a Ukrainian telecommunications operator with an active 3-month subscriber base of 9.1 million at the end of Q3 2023.
lifecell is owned by Turkcell, Turkey’s largest provider of converged telecommunications and technology services, but Turkcell announced at the end of last year an agreement to sell lifecell and other Ukrainian assets to French investment company NJJ Capital. Later it was clarified that the value of the assets in the deal is estimated at about $525 million.
The German company Rheinmetall has announced plans to supply weapons and equipment to Ukraine for 2024-2025. The planned supplies include ammunition, tanks, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems and other equipment, the company’s press service reports.
“Rheinmetall is the only defense contractor capable of supplying the Ukrainian military with a large number of new medium and large caliber ammunition, including 20-mm for the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, 40-mm ammunition, as well as 105-mm for the Leopard 1 tank and 120-mm tank ammunition for the Leopard 2,” the statement said.
The company recalled that by the end of 2023, 40,000 out of 300,000 rounds of 35-mm ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank had also been manufactured and delivered.
“Moreover, Rheinmetall is an important strategic partner of Ukraine in the supply of 155-mm artillery ammunition: several tens of thousands of shells have already been delivered, and tens of thousands more will be delivered in 2024. In December 2023, the German government also placed an order with Rheinmetall for the supply of several tens of thousands of ammunition in 2025,” the statement said.
In addition to Germany, another NATO member state has commissioned Rheinmetall to supply Ukraine with a large quantity of 155 ammunition rounds. The shells will be produced by the Spanish manufacturer Rheinmetall Expal Munitions and are to be delivered in 2025.
In addition, in 2024, it is planned to supply “in the double-digit range” of Marder armored personnel carriers, 24 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks, as well as 5 armored evacuation vehicles and two Leopard 1 tanks for training. Another 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks will be delivered on behalf of the governments of the Netherlands and Denmark.
Deliveries of Skynex air defense systems are also expected to continue.
In addition, a second rescue station (NATO Role 1 standard) and SurveilSPIRE drone defense systems are planned to be delivered.
“In addition to short-term deliveries of military equipment, in the long term Ukraine will need assistance in rebuilding its defense industry and reorienting production to Western standards. Therefore, in October 2023, Rheinmetall established a joint venture with the Ukrainian state-owned company Ukrainian Defense Industry JSC (formerly Ukroboronprom) in Kyiv – Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defense Industry LLC, the company added.
Currently, maintenance and repair work is already underway on military vehicles; in the second phase, Ukraine will also produce armored vehicles, such as Fuchs/Fox armored personnel carriers, Lynx infantry fighting vehicles and Panther main battle tanks.
“The goal is to turn Ukraine into an effective partner, rebuild its once powerful defense sector and ensure its strategic autonomy,” the statement emphasizes.
air defense systems, LEOPARD TANKS, RHEINMETALL, shells, Skynex
Internal and external debt of Ukraine in 2010-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Emporium LLC from Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM group has become the owner of 8.856607% of shares of PFTS, Ukraine’s largest stock exchange by trading volume (both in Kiev), on the eve of its announced plans to increase its authorized capital by 93.7%.
According to PFTS’ message in the NSCM disclosure system, the exchange received information about the new shareholder on February 2.
It is specified that Emporium is owned by Crossgold Limited, which, in turn, is owned by SCM Financial Overseas Limited, 100% owned by Akhmetov
There is no information about the seller of these shares yet.
As reported, PFTS earlier announced plans to consider at the extraordinary remote shareholders’ meeting on February 6 an increase in the authorized capital (AC) from UAH 32.01 million to UAH 62.01 million, or by 93.7%, through the placement of an additional 30 thousand shares with a par value of UAH 1 thousand through additional contributions without making a public offering.
Preliminarily, the list of persons among whom the shares of the additional issue will be placed is limited to the existing shareholders, however, the meeting may expand it by other investors intending to purchase the shares.
The largest shareholder of PFTS since the beginning of 2022 is Bohai Commodity Exchange (BOCE Co. Limited, Hong Kong) with 49.9% of shares. According to the SEC disclosure system, there were no other shareholders with a stake of more than 5% at the end of the third quarter of 2023.
At the same time, Prime Holding LLC in mid-October 2023 announced its intention to acquire 2,835 shares of the exchange, which is 8.8566% of its authorized capital.
PFTS did not publish financial statements after 9 months of 2021. According to information from the last annual shareholders’ meeting, the exchange reduced its net loss in 2022 compared to 2021 by 8.6% to UAH 3.641 mln.
The volume of trading on PFTS in 2023, according to its data, increased 3.6 times – up to 320.8 billion UAH, which amounted to 63% of the total trading volume of securities trading organizers in Ukraine, including in December – 28.6 billion UAH, or 66% of the total trading volume in the country.
In particular, the volume of government bonds traded on PFTS in 2023 increased 3 times to UAH 308.6 billion, corporate bonds of Ukrainian issuers – 20 times to UAH 1 billion (due to the recovery of primary placements), bonds of foreign countries – 5 times to UAH 0.7 billion, but transactions with shares were carried out for only UAH 19.4 million.
In December 2023, 39 participants of trades on PFTS concluded transactions with 48 issues of securities (Ukrainian government bonds – 33, Eurobonds of Ukraine – 1, corporate bonds of Ukrainian issuers – 7, bonds of a foreign state – 6, shares of Ukrainian issuers – 1), and in total in 2023 transactions were concluded by 49 participants with 114 issues of securities.
As of January 1, 2024, the number of PFTS members admitted to trading was 51: 30 banks and 21 financial companies. 353 issues of securities were admitted to trading on the exchange, of which 119 were in the Exchange Register.
At one time, LLC Emporium, established in 2007, was the owner of regional breweries OJSC PBC Krym, CJSC Dnipropetrovsk Brewery Dnipro, CJSC Firma Poltavpivo and OJSC Lugansk Brewery, but later SCM withdrew from this business. Emporium’s core business is commercial and management consulting.
