The rating agency Expert-Rating has affirmed the financial stability rating of KSG Agro SA (Switzerland), the holding company of the agricultural holding KSG Agro, at the level of “uaA+” on the national scale (corresponds to the BBB level on the international scale), the company said in a press release on Wednesday following an audit of its activities over the first half of the year.
According to the rating agency, this assessment of the company’s performance in the first half of 2021 is due to an increase in the level of coverage by its own capital of its debt obligations, the company’s profitability and a good level of its EBITDA to available loans.
“Throughout the period from June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2021, KSG Agro’s equity capital grew by 52.46%, up to $14.47 million, including due to its profitable activity and the reduction of retained loss. For the same period the liabilities of KSG Agro S.A. decreased by 12.52%, down to $55.7 million. The decrease in liabilities of KSG Agro S.A. was mainly due to selling three subsidiary companies in May, 2021,” the rating agency said in the report.
According to it, debt obligations of KSG Agro S.A. as of June 30, 2021, decreased by 12.52% compared to June 30, 2020, to $55.69 million. Long-term loans predominated in the structure of the company’s debt obligations as of that date: their volume increased by 7.52%, to $27.25 million, whiles the volume of short-term liabilities decreased by 54.19%, to $2.91 million.
The agency noted that EBITDA of KSG Agro SA in the first half of 2021 decreased by 22.49% compared to January-June 2020, to $2.69 million. At the same time, the ratio of EBITDA to its loan obligations as of June 30, 2021 decreased by 2.03 p.p. versus the same date last year, to 8.95%, which indicates the company’s ability to service its debt obligations.
The agency’s report indicated that the current macroeconomic situation in Ukraine did not significantly affect the sales volumes of the agricultural holding’s products, in particular, its revenue in the first half of 2021 decreased by 12.1% compared to the same period in 2020, to $6.81 million. During the specified period, the net profit of KSG Agro increased 48 times, to $13.7 million, mainly due to the sale of its subsidiaries.
“Therefore, according to the results of the first half of 2021, KSG Agro S.A. demonstrated high profitability indicators,” the rating agency said.
The agency recalled that the borrower or the particular debt instrument with rating “uaA+” is characterized by a high creditworthiness compared to other Ukrainian borrowers or debt instruments.
During the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the presidents of Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and the Prime Minister of Georgia will meet, according to the official website of the President of Poland.
According to the published schedule, President of Poland Andrzej Duda and his wife will visit the United States on September 21-24, 2021.
On the first day of the visit, September 21 at 20:00, Duda is scheduled to meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu and Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili.
The decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky on planting 1 billion trees within three years will be implemented, it will be implemented on 170,000 hectares, the total cost of the project is about UAH 2 billion, Head of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine Yuriy Bolokhovets has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. “For planting 1 billion trees, about 170,000 hectares are needed. We have already found up to 100,000 hectares of our own territories that require afforestation. These are sites of fire, areas where forests have been destroyed as a result of various factors. Another 70,000 hectares are land of local authorities, the head of the agency said.
He said that the State Forest Resources Agency proposed that the territorial communities, which land plots were in the zone of implementation of the Green Country presidential program, either plant a forest on its territory, or transfer these plots to the agency for afforestation. According to Bolokhovets, today, more than 20,000 hectares are in the process of being transferred from the communities to the enterprises of the State Forest Resources Agency.
“The second question is financing. We need UAH 2 billion for three years. I am absolutely sure that the forest industry, due to going from the shadows and more efficient work, is able to earn this money itself. And we will do it,” the head of the agency said.
Bolokhovets said that planting 1 billion trees is necessary to minimize the effects of global climate change, create protective belts of trees to protect against dust storms, as well as increase the country’s forest cover from the current 15.9% to the minimum required 20%.
The head of the State Forest Resources Agency also noted the increase in the procurement of seed material for forest reproduction several times. His agency is also creating infrastructure for large-scale seeding and building nurseries for growing quality planting material.
“This year we have already significantly increased the planting in comparison with previous years. Next year, we will at least double the planting. I am absolutely convinced that we will implement the President’s task,” Bolokhovets said.
PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, STATE FOREST RESOURCES AGENCY, TREES
Delta Wilmar Ukraine LLC, part of the group of the transnational corporation Wilmar International, plans to launch of the second bottling line for sunflower oil under the TM Chumak in three- and five-liter containers at a plant in the village of Novi Biliari (Odesa region), the company also brought the first bottling line launched in November 2020 to its design capacity.
“Our nearest plans are to launch a second line designed for large-volume bottles – three liters and five liters. The market for these products is the Middle East and Africa. Since people in these countries live mainly in large families, they accordingly buy oil in a large container,” Mykola Danyliuk, the leading specialist in the production and packaging of bottled products, said in a message of the company on Facebook.
Delta Wilmar said that 10 months after the launch of the first sunflower oil bottling line at this enterprise, the company brought production volumes to the design capacity – 3,000 bottles per hour for containers with a capacity of 2 liters and 6,000 bottles per hour for containers of 0.85 liter and 1 liter.
The company recalled that the volume of investments in the first bottling line exceeded $5.5 million, and 45 jobs were created.
Ukraine has registered 2,265 new cases of COVID-19, as well as 565 recoveries and 44 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Health Ministry’s press service said.
“Ukraine recorded 2,265 new cases of COVID-19 (including 275 children and 22 medical workers) over the past day, September 20, 2021. In the past 24 hours, 1,255 persons were hospitalized, 44 died, and 565 recovered,” the ministry said on Telegram.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Ukraine has seen a total of 2,350,646 coronavirus infections, including 2,231,417 recoveries and 54,919 deaths.
