Business news from Ukraine

IC “InterExpress” increased premium collection by 21.5%, reduced payments by 1.35%

In 2023, InterExpress Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 58.616 million, which is 21.15% more than a year earlier.

This is reported by the rating agency Standard-Rating on the update of the company’s credit rating / financial strength (reliability) rating of the insurer on the national scale at the level of uaAA.

Revenues from individuals for the year decreased by 5.20% to UAH 23.223 million, and revenues from reinsurers in the analyzed period amounted to only UAH 132 thousand. Despite the increase in premiums from individuals, the insurer’s client portfolio is dominated by legal entities, as indicated by their share in gross premiums, which amounted to 60.15% in 12 months of 2023.

Insurance payments sent to reinsurers decreased by 37.35% to UAH 4,649 million. Thus, the ratio of reinsurers’ participation in insurance premiums decreased by 7.41 p.p. to 7.93%.

The company’s net written premiums increased by 31.75% to UAH 53.967 million, while earned premiums increased by 22.13% to UAH 53.111 million.

The volume of payments and reimbursements made by the insurer in 2023 decreased by 1.35% compared to 2022 – to UAH 17.065 million. Thus, the level of payments decreased by 6.64 p.p. to 29.11%.

In the analyzed period, IC Interexpress’ activities were profitable, while the insurer’s financial results showed a significant increase. Thus, the operating profit of IC “Interexpress” increased by UAH 23.408 million to UAH 24.340 million, and the net profit – by UAH 19.153 million to UAH 20.005 million.

As of January 1, 2024, the insurer’s assets increased by 53.88% to UAH 73.695 million, equity – by 56.31% to UAH 58.721 million, liabilities increased by 45.07% to UAH 14.974 million, cash and cash equivalents – by 56.09% to UAH 10.088 million.

RA also notes that as of the reporting date, the company has formed a portfolio of current investments in government bonds in the amount of UAH 5,828 mln.

InterExpress Insurance Company, registered in 2004, specializes in risky types of insurance.

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“Metinvest” ended last year with loss of $194 mln, revenue down 11%

In 2023, the consolidated net loss of Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands), the parent company of Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, amounted to $194 million, while in 2022 it reached $2.193 billion (down 11 times).

According to the group’s annual report, its revenue fell by 11% from $8.288 billion to $7.397 billion in 2022, and EBITDA fell by 54% to $861 from $1.873 billion.

It is specified that the revenue of the metallurgical sector decreased by 15.2% to $4.846 billion, and the mining segment – by 0.8% to $2.551 billion.

At the same time, adjusted EBITDA of the group’s steel division decreased by 40.4% to $159 million and mining segment by 50.2% to $770 million.

Metinvest’s operating profit in 2023 amounted to $445 million against an operating loss of $1.426 billion in 2022.

In addition, free cash and cash equivalents increased to $646 million from $349 million at the end of 2022.

As reported, Metinvest B.V.’s consolidated net loss in 2022 amounted to $2.193 billion compared to a profit of $4.765 billion in 2021. At the same time, revenues fell by almost 2.2 times to $8.288 billion from $18.005 billion in 2021, and EBITDA fell by 3.4 times to $1.769 billion.

Revenue of the steel sector decreased by 2.5 times to $5.803 billion, the mining segment – by 1.8 times to $3.473 billion, adjusted EBITDA of the steel division fell by 11.1 times to $0.262 billion, and the mining segment – by 2.5 times to $1.448 billion. Metinvest’s operating loss in 2022 amounted to $1.426 billion, compared to a profit of $4.933 billion in 2021.

Taking into account asset write-downs of $1.283 billion and foreign exchange losses of $1.154 billion, the group’s total loss for 2022 amounted to $4.1 billion, compared to a total profit of $5.023 billion in 2021. Free cash flows decreased by 3.3 times to $0.349 billion.

“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions, as well as in Europe.

The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.

Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.

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History of Ukrainian money: OTP BANK became partner of UCulture project lecture series

As part of its partnership with the UKculture project, JSC OTP BANK will support the platform’s team in preparing a series of lectures on the history of money: from the hryvnia of the princes of Kievan Rus to the present, as well as figures and historical monuments from Ukrainian banknotes.

“We started the collaboration on the first day of World Money Week, which is celebrated annually in more than 100 countries. The joint project with UKultura will allow us to raise deeper meanings, to look at the history of Ukrainian money in philosophical, historical, and cultural dimensions. The platform’s experts study unusual topics, find unexpected facts, and tell them not through dates and a list of names, but through living stories. And they also explain how these stories have affected us today,” said Lesia Syrota, team leader of the OTP Bank Helps Ukraine charity project, Director of Retail Sales and Network Management at OTP Bank.

She noted that Ukrainian banknotes contain much more than the size of the payment denomination and anti-counterfeiting elements. In particular, she reminded that modern money depicts symbols or important artifacts of Ukrainian statehood that have played or are playing a significant role in the country’s history. Therefore, educational lectures will help expand and supplement knowledge about different eras and how they are reflected in the present.

“UKultura is an innovative educational project about Ukrainian culture with a human face. Without bombast and excessive academicism, together with leading researchers, we talk about the achievements and values of our culture from ancient times to the present. The UCulture educational platform was created for students seeking live information about Ukrainian culture, for teachers looking for relevant materials and teaching methods, for cultural professionals seeking to share their experience and knowledge, and for everyone who wants to learn more about Ukrainian culture,” commented Larysa Dovha, UCulture project manager.

All videos created as part of the cooperation will be available for free on the
the Bank’s YouTube channel and on the website UKkultura website.

The UKultura educational platform was launched in March 2023. Its website contains both lectures on the development of Ukrainian culture from ancient times to the present and interviews with leading experts and scholars.

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Lviv-based Cardboard and Paper Company maintained slight decline in production

Cardboard and Paper Company LLC (Lviv), a major Ukrainian producer of cardboard tubes, produced products worth UAH 194 million in January-February 2024, down 3.7% year-on-year.

According to statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine by UkrPapir Association, the company reduced its output of cardboard products by 13.8% in physical terms to 4.11 thousand tons, while it increased its production of paper base for sanitary products by 65% to 1.58 thousand tons. The production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 13.2 percent to 0.9 million units.

LLC Cardboard and Paper Company produces products and semi-finished products from waste cardboard (cardboard sheets, corners, sleeves), cellulose and recycled waste paper (toilet paper, towels, napkins under Papero brand). The company supplies its products, in particular, to the EU countries.

Among its customers are Biosphere, Arterium, Nestle, Khlibprom, Yarych confectionery, and Galychyna dairy company.

As reported, in 2023, the company increased its production by 7% compared to 2022, to UAH 1.27 billion.

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Continental to overhaul its fleet of agricultural machinery and special equipment

As part of its capital investment plan for 2024, Continental Farmers Group has started to upgrade its fleet of agricultural and special machinery, which it intends to replenish with 35 new tractors, combines, sprayers and seeders, as well as various equipment, the company’s press service reports.

“The condition and quality of our technical facilities are among the main factors that determine how successful the upcoming production seasons will be for us. We do not deviate from the approved investment plan. The company is already receiving the first deliveries of machinery this year, which will be actively used in the spring field work. The next deliveries, which will include machinery for the autumn fieldwork and storage equipment for potatoes, are planned closer to the harvest,” said Georg von Nolken, CEO of Continental Farmers Group.

According to the report, Continental has purchased 21 new tractors of various capacities, five combine harvesters, four self-propelled sprayers, five seeders, tillage machines, fertilizer spreaders, special and other auxiliary equipment, and precision farming equipment.

The agricultural holding noted that Continental purchases all new equipment in line with its strategy of developing and unifying its machinery fleet. All equipment is equipped to comply with precision farming technology. It ensures compliance with the following requirements: high-quality and stable autopilot operation, the ability to control the application rate by the task map, automatic control of machine sections, remote service access to monitoring, synchronization of field work, navigation between rows, etc.

Mriya Agro Holding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya entered into an agreement with international investor Salic UK to sell its assets.

Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock production.

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Kyiv Pulp and Paper Mill maintains slight decline in production

In January-February, the volume of marketable output of Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (Kyiv Pulp and Paper Mill, Obukhiv, Kyiv region), Ukraine’s industry leader in this indicator, amounted to UAH 1 billion 210 million, down 2.4% year-on-year.

According to Ukrpapir Association statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, corrugated box production in physical terms decreased by 5.7% to 33.45 million square meters over the period, but the plant confidently retains its leadership in corrugated packaging production in Ukraine.

Cardboard production decreased by 20% to 23.2 thousand tons, due to a drop in containerboard production by almost 23% to 18.68 thousand tons, and boxboard production by 4.8% to 4.52 thousand tons.

At the same time, the output of base paper for sanitary and hygiene products increased by 19.4% to 7.8 thousand tons, and the production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 20.5% to 42.47 million units.

The mill continues to be a leader in the production of this product in Ukraine, with 105.71 million rolls produced in just two months, up 20.8%.

According to UkrPapir, in February, the plant increased its paper and cardboard output by 5% compared to February 2023 and by 8.6% compared to January 2024, to 16.14 thousand tons, while corrugated boxes decreased by 7.7% and increased by 2.4%, to 16.93 million square meters.

According to the association’s data from the main industry enterprises, in January-February, paper and cardboard production in Ukraine decreased by 2.2% compared to January-February 2023, to 87.93 thousand tons, while cardboard boxes increased by 12.3%, to 87.29 million square meters.

Kyiv Pulp and Paper Mill is the parent company of Kyiv Pulp and Paper Group, one of the largest cardboard and paper products producers in Europe with a staff of over 2,500 people.

It has, in particular, a cardboard production facility with a capacity of 240 thousand tons per year and a corrugated packaging plant with a capacity of 355 million square meters, a production facility for the production of base paper and finished products with a capacity of 70 thousand tons of base paper annually.

As reported, in 2023, the plant produced products worth UAH 7 billion 568 million, up 1.8% year-on-year.