World central banks in January, according to preliminary estimates of the World Gold Council (WGC), purchased in gold and foreign exchange reserves of 39 tons of gold.
This is more than double the specified volumes of December (16.9 tons) and makes January the eighth consecutive month of growth, notes WGC analyst Krishan Gopaul in his review.
The largest buyers in January were again Turkey (11.8 tons) and China (10 tons). Also bought gold in reserves India (8.7 tons), Kazakhstan (6.2 tons), Jordan (3.1 tons), Czech Republic (1.7 tons) and others.
Significant sales were reported only by the Central Bank of Russia (3.1 tons, according to WGC). This repeats a trend since 2021, Gopaul notes: a decline in stocks of about 3 tons followed by replenishment. “We believe this activity is related to the country’s coinage program,” he explains.
In 2023, the insurance company “Knyazha Life Insurance Group” (Kyiv) collected UAH 64.4 million of insurance payments, which is 6.69% more than in 2022.
This is reported on the website of the rating agency Standard-Rating, which confirmed the financial strength rating/credit rating of the company at uaAA+ at the end of 2023.
The volume of insurance payments and reimbursements made by the company in 2023 amounted to UAH 34.352 million, which is 2.1 times higher than in 2022. Thus, the insurer’s claims ratio increased by 26.21 p.p. to 53.38%.
In 2023, the insurer’s acquisition expenses decreased by 6.55% compared to 2022 – to UAH 9.459 million.
The insurer’s net profit for 2023 amounted to UAH 35.128 million, while in 2022 it made a net loss. This is due to the recalculation of 2022 figures for the purpose of their comparability in connection with the first application of IFRS 9 and IFRS 17.
As of January 1, 2024, the company’s assets increased by 12.65% to UAH 797.322 million, equity showed an increase of 40.24% to UAH 274.978 million, liabilities – by 2.07% to UAH 522.344 million, funds and their equivalents decreased by 30.09% to UAH 2.504 million (the decrease is due to an increase in current financial investments).
The Agency notes that as of the beginning of 2024, the company’s equity capital covered 52.64% of the insurer’s liabilities, and 0.48% of its liabilities were secured by cash and cash equivalents.
Last year, the insurer formed a portfolio of financial investments in the amount of UAH 783.353 million, which included bank deposits (UAH 133.2 million) and investments in government bonds (UAH 650.153 million). Thus, as of the beginning of 2024, liquid assets (cash and cash equivalents, bank deposits and government bonds) covered 150.45% of the insurer’s liabilities, which indicates a very high level of liquidity of the company.
RA emphasizes that a high level of external support for the company is provided by its shareholder, Vienna Insurance Group Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG, an international insurance group headquartered in Austria, represented by 50 companies in 30 countries and a leader in the insurance market of Central and Eastern Europe.
Given the current challenges related to preserving life and health in wartime, it is of great importance to train journalists to act effectively in extreme situations. That is why the Experts Club think tank hosted a regular workshop on first aid for media representatives in Kyiv.
The organizers, including Experts Club, the ADONIS medical center network, and the Help For Ukraine and Pryirpinia Community Foundation charitable foundations, emphasized the importance of first aid skills for journalists, especially those working in risky environments.
The seminar included lectures and practical classes conducted by anesthesiologist Mariana Bolyuk. The participants learned the basics of basic life support, methods of stopping bleeding, and how to apply tourniquets. Such training is extremely important, given the statistics of casualties among journalists in military conflicts.
“The war has significantly increased the risks for journalists, so the development of first aid skills should be part of their professional development. Our colleagues constantly face risks and bear great responsibility. That is why we strive to provide them not only with information, but also with the means to save their lives,” emphasized Maksym Urakin, founder of Experts Club.
According to Urakin, such initiatives are planned to be expanded to include more representatives of the media community and other professions that are at increased risk during the war. This, in turn, will not only help to save the lives of journalists, but also help in providing first aid to the victims until the arrival of medical professionals.
“At a time when the information field is full of news from the frontline, professional training of journalists to act in emergency situations becomes an integral part of their responsibility to society,” said Tetiana Lagovska, Executive Director of the Pryirpin Community Foundation.
In his turn, volunteer Oleksandr Holizdra emphasized that the education and training of journalists will not only contribute to their own safety, but will also increase the efficiency of their work in difficult conditions, which is key to informing the public and maintaining overall security.
The Experts Club project plans to expand its program to include more journalists and bloggers. Training in this critical area should become a standard for media representatives, as the role of journalists in society becomes increasingly important and dangerous in times of conflict. The development and support of such initiatives is a step towards increasing the level of security in society.
ADONIS, EXPERTS CLUB, FIRST AID, JOURNALISTS, MEDIA, PRYIRPIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, URAKIN, БОЛЮК, ГОЛІЗДРА, Лаговська
In February, NovaPay Credit LLC made a public offering of two issues of interest-bearing bonds of series “D” and “E” with a nominal amount of UAH 100 million each through the PFTS stock exchange.
“100,000 D series interest-bearing bonds with a nominal value of UAH 1,000 with a maturity date of January 19, 2027 and an interest rate of 18% per annum were placed on the PFTS. Also, 100 thousand interest-bearing bonds of series “E” with a nominal value of UAH 1,000 with a maturity date of February 19, 2027 and an interest rate of 18% per annum were placed on the PFTS,” the exchange said.
According to information on the PFTS website, the public offerings were formalized by only two transactions for the entire volume of issues: series D – on February 16, series E – on February 27. Both times the sale price was equal to the face value.
Last year, NovaPay Credit registered with the NSSMC three public issues of interest-bearing bonds of series A, B and C for UAH 100 million each. Series “C” has a maturity of two years instead of three years in the previous two issues and coupon payment on a quarterly basis, while in the issues “A” and “B” interest payment is provided at the end of the circulation.
The interest rate of the “C” series bonds is set at 20% per annum, as in the previous series, but only for the first year of circulation, while for the second year it will be additionally determined with the right of the holders to submit the bonds for mandatory redemption.
In addition, along with the D and E series issues, NovaPay Credit registered a F series issue with the same nominal amount of UAH 100 million at the end of last year. The bonds of these three series have a maturity of three years and pay a single coupon at 18% per annum at maturity. The public offering of the F series will be held from March 19, 2024 to March 18, 2025 through the PFTS exchange.
“NovaPay Credit has already announced that it intends to actively use the bonds issued in repurchase agreements for terms from one month to one year, which are concluded through the NovaPay mobile application, creating a convenient alternative to bank deposits.
The company completed the first nine months of 2023 with a net profit of UAH 29.88 million, while the same period in 2022 resulted in a net loss of UAH 4.97 million. Its revenue tripled to UAH 58.02 million. The loan portfolio amounted to UAH 278 million as of September 30.
It was noted that the company is present in more than 3.6 thousand financial service points.
In October-December 2023, Kernel Agro Holding made additional investments to restore the transshipment of vegetable oils at the long-dormant Chornomorsk port, which it acquired in July 2023, allowing the company to start loading the first vessel with sunflower oil in January 2024.
“This was an important milestone in the revival of the company,” Kernel said in its quarterly report published on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
It also notes that in December 2023, Kernel completed the acquisition of 100% of corporate rights in Reni-Oil LLC, a terminal in the port of Reni for transshipment of sunflower oil with a one-time storage capacity of 15 thousand tons of oil, for $24.75 million. It is indicated that this asset, located on the Danube, is important for the group, providing the ability to export sunflower oil even in the event of a blockade of the Black Sea ports.
According to the report, in December 2023, Kernel acquired a bulk carrier with a capacity of 50 thousand tons of grain, which became the third vessel in the company’s fleet and significantly expanded the group’s transportation and logistics capabilities.
In addition, in December 2023, Kernel launched the fifth cogeneration heat and power plant at one of its oil extraction plants with an installed capacity of 21 MW, which helps to increase resilience to the risk of potential power outages.
“According to the plan, the Group is working on commissioning a new modern oilseed processing plant located in Khmelnytsky region, which is scheduled to be commissioned in spring 2024. At the time of publication of this report, commissioning works have already begun. The plant with a capacity of 1 million tons of sunflower seeds per year will be the largest in Ukraine,” the document also says.
It specifies that in October-December 2023, the company spent $41 million on investments in fixed assets, including the purchase of a Supramax bunker.
As reported, in August last year, Kernel announced the purchase of vegetable oil transshipment facilities in the port of Chornomorsk for $19.4 million and a sunflower oil transshipment terminal in the port of Reni (both in Odesa region) for $24.75 million.
“The one-time storage of 105 thousand tons of sunflower oil will allow the group not to stop the operation of processing plants in case of transportation disruptions, as it was in the 2022-2023 financial years, and to smooth out logistics,” the agricultural holding commented on these acquisitions at the time. “Kernel added that the expansion of infrastructure is “vital” for the agricultural holding ahead of the commissioning of the Starokonstantinivsk oil extraction plant in Khmelnytsky region.
Kernel’s net profit for FY2023 amounted to $299 million, while the company ended the previous year with a net loss of $41 million. The agricultural holding’s revenue for FY2023 decreased by 35% to $3.455 billion, but EBITDA increased 2.5 times to $544 million.
In the first half of FY2024, Kernel’s net profit fell 3.6 times compared to the first half of FY2023, to $102 million, and EBITDA halved to $223 million, with revenue down 16% to $1.59 billion.
In 2023, Universalna Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected UAH 1.891 billion in net insurance premiums, which is 56.3% more than in 2022, according to the website of the Standard Rating agency.
The agency has affirmed the credit rating/financial strength (reliability) rating of Universalna Insurance Company at uaAAA on the national scale based on the analysis of its performance for the specified reporting period.
According to the published data, in 2023, the company collected UAH 2.005 billion of gross premiums, which is 42.87% higher than the amount of premiums received in the same period in 2022.
In the reporting period, revenues from individuals increased by 42.59% to UAH 905.272 million, and from reinsurers – by 2.19 times to UAH 2.267 million. Despite the increase in premiums from individuals, legal entities prevailed in the company’s client portfolio in 2023. At the same time, according to the results of activities during 2023, the largest shares of premiums came from land transport insurance (except for railway) – 32.22%, as well as health insurance (continuous health insurance) – 28.53%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers in 2023 decreased by 41.01% compared to the same period in 2022 – to UAH 114.046 million. The ratio of reinsurers’ participation in insurance premiums decreased by 8.09 p.p. to 5.69%.
The volume of insurance claims paid by Universalna in 2023 more than doubled compared to 2022, to UAH 700.220 million. Thus, the level of payments increased by 10.16 percentage points to 34.92%.
The agency also notes that in the reporting period, the company’s net profit decreased by 25.04% to UAH 142.040 million, operating profit by 44.1% to UAH 104.9 million.
As of January 1, 2024, the insurer’s assets increased by 19.68% to UAH 1.471 billion, equity showed an increase of 23.16% to UAH 755.312 million, liabilities – by 16.22% to UAH 716.005 million, cash and cash equivalents decreased by 26.84% to UAH 172.546 million.
RA notes that as of the reporting date, Universalna Insurance Company has formed a portfolio of current financial investments in the amount of UAH 987.923 million, consisting of bank deposits (UAH 640.063 million) and government bonds (UAH 347.860 million). As a result, cash and cash equivalents covered 24.10% of the company’s liabilities, liquid assets (cash, bank deposits and government bonds) exceeded the insurer’s liabilities by 1.62 times, and the company’s liability/equity ratio was 105.49%.
Universalna has an international shareholder base, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holding a 30% stake and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited holding a 70% stake.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Canada) is a holding company that, through its subsidiaries, is primarily engaged in accident insurance, property insurance and investment management.
