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.
