ArcelorMittal increased its EBITDA by 44% in Q2 2023 compared to Q1, to $2.6 bln, the company said in a statement.
The steelmaker points to improving market conditions as well as positive effects from M&A deals (the acquisition of Pecem in Brazil and the consolidation of ArcelorMittal Texas HBI). For the six months, EBITDA rose to $4.4 billion from $3.9 billion a year earlier.
Operating profit last quarter was up 62% on Q1, to $1.9 billion. January-June operating profit was $3.1 billion, compared with $8.9 in the first six months of 2022.
Net income in the April-June period was $1.86 billion (up 70%), down 63% to $2.96 billion for the first half of the year.
Revenue increased last quarter by 0.6% quarter-on-quarter to $18.6 bln. In January-June, ArcelorMittal’s revenue fell by 16% to $37.1 bln largely due to lower metal shipments and a 14.7% drop in average realized price.
ArcelorMittal’s April-June capex totaled $1.06 billion ($938 million quarter earlier), with a 2023 capex guidance of $4.5-5 billion.
In the second quarter, the company increased steel output by 1.4% quarter-on-quarter to 14.7 million tons; for the half-year, it decreased by 5.5% to 29.2 million tons.
Metal shipments fell 2% to 14.2 million tons last quarter, down 3.4% (to 28.7 million tons) in January-June.
The company’s production of yellow ore for the quarter fell 4.5% to 6.4 million tons, with 13.1 million tons produced in the six months compared to 14.2 million tons of yellow ore a year earlier.
The international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company Interpipe in January-March this year increased EBITDA by 5.2 times compared to the same period last year – up to $79 million, but reduced revenues from sales by 4% – to $229 million.
According to the first quarter press-release of the company, steel output went up 13% to 184 thsd mt, pipes output increased 12% to 105 thsd mt but railroad products output decreased 13% to 20 thsd mt. In this case, the sales of products decreased by 23% to 108 thousand tons, including pipes – by 20% to 82 thousand tons, railway products – by 27% to 19 thousand tons, steel billets – by 50% to 6 thousand tons.
Net leverage ratio strengthened to 0.7x.
The press-release notes that at the beginning of 2023, production at all Interpipe enterprises was negatively affected by tight limits on electricity consumption by industrial consumers. However, already in March the situation improved due to the removal of these restrictions. As a result, and due to the effect of low comparison base due to last year’s downtime, steel output increased by 13% and tubes – by 12%.
At the same time, Interpipe’s sales continued to decline as external market conditions have already begun to show the first signs of cooling. In particular, the sales of OCTG-pipes (oil and gas variety – IF-U) decreased by 37% and line pipes – by 12%. The fall in the railway division is also continuing and the company is trying to compensate for it by increasing sales to the promising markets of North and South America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
The decline in operating performance, in turn, led to a decrease in financial results. Specifically, its sales revenues decreased by 4% to $229 mn, while EBITDA went up 5.2 times to $79 mn, which significantly improved its net leverage to 0.7x.
Andriy Korotkov, Interpipe’s CEO, states that since the middle of the quarter the company’s plants have returned to work steadily, without any “broken” schedules. This made it possible to increase production at the end of the quarter and in some segments, for example, in the pipe division, to get somewhat closer to the pre-war level.
“Even under difficult military conditions, Interpipe continues to fulfill all orders and delivers products to customers quickly and on time. Significant support is provided by the extension of the cancellation of all quotas and duties on Ukrainian goods by the US and the EU,” says the top manager, who is quoted by the press service.
As earlier reported, Interpipe posted net profits of $204.441 million in 2022, which is 2.2 times more than in the previous year ($91.316 million). Last year’s pre-tax profit was $220.579 million compared to $110.907 million in 2021. The revenue in 2022 decreased by 13.4% to $981.330 million from $1 billion 132.9 million a year earlier. At the same time, Interpipe has increased its free cash flow from $109.627 mln to $153.777 mln during the year.
“Due to the war, in 2022, Interpipe reduced EBITDA by 11% compared to the previous year – up to $204 million. Steel output in 2022 decreased 39% to 595 thousand tons, pipes – by 36% to 393 thousand tons, railway products – by 51% to 84 thousand tons.
Sales of products in the reporting period decreased by 37%, to 524 thousand tons, including pipes – by 36%, to 384 thousand tons, railway products – by 50%, to 87 thousand tons. Its sales revenues decreased by 13% to $981 mln, while net leverage remained at a strong and stable level of 1.1x.
“Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company producing seamless pipes and railroad wheels. The company supplies its products to more than 80 countries all over the world through a network of sales offices located in the key markets of the Middle East, North America and Europe. In 2022, the company sold 384 thnd mt of tubes and 87 thnd mt of railroad products. The company sells its railroad products under the KLW brand.
Interpipe has 10 000 employees. In 2022 the company transferred 2.8 billion hryvnias to the budgets of all levels.
The company has five industrial assets: “Interpipe Nizhnedniprovsk Tube Rolling Plant (NTZ)”, “Interpipe Novomoskovsk Tube Plant (NMTZ)”, “Interpipe Niko-Tube”, “Dnepropetrovsk Vtormet” and the electric steelmaking complex “Dneprostal” under the “Interpipe Steel” brand.
The ultimate owner of Interpipe Limited is Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk and his family members.
Agroholding KSG Agro because of the full-scale war launched by Russia ended 2022 with a net loss of $1.68 million compared to $17.71 million net profit in 2021, its EBITDA decreased 5.5 times to $1.79 million, the company said in its annual report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
“Disruption of traditional logistics, limitation of exports by the grain corridor, growth of personnel costs, security and energy autonomy – to list the negative factors of the new realities can be long. So, of course, the results of 2022 can not be compared with the previous year, which was a record result in terms of harvest, “- commented Sergey Kasyanov, the head of the Board of Directors and the majority shareholder of the agricultural holding.
According to the report, its revenue last year decreased 47.3% – to $16.2 million, gross profit – 3.3 times, to $3.18 million and operating profit – 18.8 times, to $0.44 million.
It is also specified that exchange losses increased 4.6 times to $2.63 million, net debt increased only 1.9% to $47.46 million and free cash at the end of the year was $0.27 million.
Last December, the inactive subsidiary Hlebna League LLC was also disposed of, and the loss on its disposal was $10.27 million.
“Despite the formal losses, our 2022 agroholding provided stable operations. Due to the vertical integration of building the business we did not increase the credit load, expanded the share of pork sales, providing 80% in the native Dnepropetrovsk region and entering the markets of Zaporozhye and Kharkov, where pork producers as a result of Russian aggression curtailed their activities,” – said Kasyanov.
“The Board of Directors is currently working on a new development strategy to expand the group’s operations in the European Union with the clear goal of having most of the group’s assets and revenues in the EU within the next 3-5 years,” the report said again.
It is pointed out that this can be achieved through a series of mergers and acquisitions, as well as equity and debt financing, including additional share issues.
“The board of directors has no plans to sell the group’s existing assets in Ukraine. On the contrary, the focus of the new strategy is on expansion and investment, thereby reducing the potential risks of investing in Ukraine alone and mitigating the negative impact on the group’s business of the current macroeconomic situation in Ukraine,” the document states.
According to it, the total number of pigs and piglets of agrarian group reduced only by 3.3% last year – to 42.26 thousand, while during the year it came to 106.04 thousand against 108.16 thousand a year earlier.
The report indicates that crop revenue fell more than fourfold to $4.5 million from $8.3 million.
According to the document, in December 2022, KSG Agro agreed with its main bank lender TAScombank on new loan terms from the first quarter of 2023, which better reflect the group’s wartime financing needs. According to them, the established total credit limit on TAScombank loans remains at 450 million UAH, the interest rates on tranches in UAH are 25% per annum and provide for partial compensation of the rate on state programs, and the interest rates on tranches in USD and euro are set at 9% per annum.
Under the new terms, the main part of the principal must be paid in December 2025, while under the previous conditions by the end of 2023 should already have been paid $ 9.57 million.
It is specified that in the first quarter of 2023, the company repaid a total of $7.08 million of the existing TAScombank loans and received new tranches under the new terms totaling $6.03 million.
In addition, the $15.5 million loan to Kasyanov’s OLBIS Investments S.A., which owns 57.96 percent of KSG Agro, has been extended through 2036, the report said.
“Based on management’s five-year financial projections, the group is expected to generate sufficient profits in the future to ensure that total capital will increase to a positive value in the long term. In addition, when Russia’s war in Ukraine eventually ends and the economy begins to recover, the fair value of the group’s assets is also expected to increase naturally. Until then, the group is dependent on continued external financing,” the paper said.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is engaged in pig breeding as well as the production, storage, processing and sale of grain and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares in Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
According to Agroholding, it is one of the top-5 pork producers in Ukraine.
The largest Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar in the first quarter of 2023 increased its hryvnia revenue by 6% (in dollars it decreased by 17.2%) compared to the same period in 2022, to UAH 8.346 billion, according to a report by the parent company VEON.
According to it, during the reporting period, Kyivstar increased its EBITDA by 1% in hryvnia (in dollars, the figure decreased by 21.2%) compared to the same period last year – up to UAH 4.921 billion, and its EBITDA margin decreased by 2.9 percentage points (p.p.) – to 59%.
The company clarified that revenues from mobile services increased by 6.7%, to UAH 7.830 billion.
In addition, the operator noted that in the first quarter of 2023, the consumption of minutes per subscriber (MoU) decreased by 11.7%, to 551 from 624 in the same period last year. At the same time, the use of mobile Internet over the same period increased by 23.4% – up to 9.5 gigabytes per subscriber, while the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 13.3% – up to UAH 106.
The subscriber base in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to 24.3 million, 6.7% less than a year earlier, at the same time, the number of 4G users increased by 4.2%, or 600,000, to 13.3 million in a year, and now 4G penetration in the subscriber base is 54.6%.
As for the Kyivstar fixed network, its revenues decreased by 4.2%, to UAH 463 million, and the number of users by 7%, to 1.1 million.
At the same time, the company noted a 27.7% increase, to 1 million, in the number of users of Kyivstar TV’s streaming business and the recent launch of the Children’s Profile in it.
According to the report, Kyivstar’s capital expenditures increased by 18.4% over the reporting period, to UAH 780 million.
According to the company, Kyivstar’s capital expenditures were aimed at maintaining the main networks in the country, as well as the sustainability of the business. The Kyivstar team was able to keep almost 90% of the radio network as of the end of March 2023.
During the quarter, 81 settlements were connected to the 4G network, 215 new base stations were added and another 460 were converted to 4G.
In the first quarter of this year, VEON did not record significant impairment losses related to operations in Ukraine and no impairment losses related to operations in Russia.
The EBITDA of Ukrtelecom JSC in January-September 2022 decreased by 39% compared to the same period in 2021, to UAH 975 million, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the press release, due to the loss of control over part of the telecom infrastructure and the termination of the provision of services in the temporarily occupied territories, the company’s total income for nine months decreased by almost 17% compared to the same period last year and amounted to almost UAH 4.2 billion.
“The fall in EBITDA was due to the significant impact of the write-off of assets (losses) in the temporarily occupied territories, the formation of a reserve, as well as receivables arising from an increase in the number of overdue payments from customers. In addition, some of the company’s subscribers left the country. Also significant funds were aimed at helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine and humanitarian aid,” the operator commented on the results for January-September.
At the same time, the company continues to pay taxes on land and real estate, including in the temporarily occupied territories.
Ukrtelecom also noted that until February 24, all the company’s indicators showed steady growth, but the full-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine changed everything.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war between Ukraine and the Russian aggressor, Ukrtelecom has been working to restore services 24/7, ensuring their availability at the level of 87% of the settlements covered by the operator’s network. Assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the arrangement of Wi-Fi in school shelters are the main directions of the system the company’s social responsibility program during the war,” the press service of Ukrtelecom emphasizes.
According to the company, one of the strategic directions of Ukrtelecom’s network modernization was, as before, the optimization of the use of technological energy resources. Thus, over the past three years, electricity costs have decreased by 41%: from 155 million kWh in 2018 to 92 million kWh in 2021. At the same time, the company continues to implement a long-term energy efficiency program in wartime, which will contribute to the strength of Ukraine’s energy system, according to a press release.
“In recent months, the terrorist state has massively attacked the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, which causes direct damage to communication systems. The margin of safety of the Ukrtelecom network is currently provided by autonomous power generators, which are equipped with the operator’s most important Internet nodes, as well as sufficient (at least daily norms) fuel supply. The company’s daily investment in the stability of communication services is up to 14 thousand liters of diesel fuel with a critical load on the power grid and emergency shutdowns,” the statement said.
Despite the full-scale war, Ukrtelecom continues to implement projects to connect users to optics – in 2022, about 5 thousand km of fiber optic lines have already been built, and the optical Internet user base has grown by 33% compared to September last year and amounted to more 300 thousand subscribers in the mass and business segments.
About 200 medical and educational institutions were connected to high-speed optical Internet, more than 60 of them in the third quarter. In general, as of the beginning of October, optics from Ukrtelecom are used in more than 1.7 thousand educational and almost 1.3 thousand medical institutions.
In addition, Ukrtelecom completely modernized the telecommunications infrastructure in Dnipro, replacing copper cables with optical ones, and all operator services are now provided exclusively using the NGN (next generation network) multiservice telecom network of the new generation. Subscribers in Dnipro, switched to the FTTx optical architecture, have Internet speeds up to 1 Gbps.
Also, the implementation of a similar large-scale project to transfer subscribers to the modern NGN telecommunications infrastructure in Odessa is nearing completion.
Ukrtelecom emphasizes that it is still efficiently managing the property freed up due to the modernization of the technological infrastructure. Commercial rental income for three quarters of this year exceeded UAH 273 million, while they are almost 15% less than a year ago, which is due, among other things, to the loss of a number of properties in temporarily occupied settlements and destruction as a result of rocket attacks.
The operator notes that during the full-scale war he suffered considerable losses. A preliminary estimate of the cost of destroyed and damaged buildings, lost equipment, telecommunications networks and other assets in the temporarily occupied territories is almost UAH 650 million.
For nine months. In 2022, Ukrtelecom paid UAH 1.12 billion in taxes to the budgets of all levels, allocated about UAH 50 million in financial assistance for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also transferred more than 170 corporate vehicles to the army.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrtelecom has acquired and donated almost 3,000 tactical first-aid kits, 4,000 medical tourniquets, 2,000 hemostatic bandages and dressings, hundreds of walkie-talkies, dozens of stretchers, generators and many other necessary things and equipment for the needs of our defenders . In the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about 350 employees of the company protect Ukraine, according to a press release.
As reported, Ukrtelecom ordered the production of a significant number of Valkyrie unmanned aerial systems (UAC) and has already handed over the first three of them to the Ukrainian military. According to open data, the cost of one such complex is about $18.1 thousand.
The international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company (TKK) “Interpipe” in January-March of this year reduced EBITDA by 63% compared to the same period last year – to $ 15.139 million, but increased revenue from product sales by 19% – up to $239.185 million
According to the company’s press release for the first quarter, steel production decreased by 16% – to 163 thousand tons, pipes – by 12%, to 97 thousand tons, railway products – by 43%, to 23 thousand tons. At the same time, sales of products decreased by 10%, to 140 thousand tons.
The press release notes that the first two months of 2022, the global market conditions were positive for Interpipe. However, after February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine and launched its first missile strikes, the company’s management decided to completely suspend production. The main task was to ensure the safety of employees and maintain all production facilities. This led to a decrease in pipe production in the first three months of 2022 by 12%, and railway products by 43%.
Despite the decline in operating performance, Interpipe increased its sales revenue by 19% in the first three months, mainly due to a 47% increase in sales revenue from the pipe division, to $181 million.
At the same time, EBITDA fell by 63%. In addition to the loss of sales volumes and additional logistics and transportation costs due to the intrusion on financial results, an additional negative impact was made by the rise in prices for the main raw materials: scrap metal, electricity and natural gas. For example, in the first quarter of 2022, the price of natural gas in Ukraine on average increased more than six times compared to last year, the press release states.
And about. Andrey Korotkov, General Director of Interpipe, explained that at the end of March the company began to cautiously resume shipments, and from April it began a phased launch of production. In May, Interpipe Steel’s electric steel-smelting complex started operating, and the company began to gradually increase the volume of production and shipment of finished products.
“However, unfortunately, Interpipe cannot yet return to pre-war production volumes, since the war broke the usual supply chains, as the Black Sea seaports of Ukraine are blocked, the country has a large shortage of fuel, transport infrastructure is constantly being destroyed as a result of missile strikes. New chains supply and logistics are in the process of restructuring and formation,” Korotkov said, quoted by the press service.
According to him, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Interpipe has been steadily paying salaries to all employees, including those who are idle. At the same time, the company, with the support of the Victor and Elena Pinchuk Foundations, joined the large-scale assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, doctors and civilians, allocating more than $35 million for these purposes during the 126 days of the war.
As reported, Interpipe received $91.316 million in net profit in 2021, while in 2020 this figure was $195.116 million (a decrease of 53.2%). Revenue increased to $1 billion 132.9 million from $865.131 million.
Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company, a manufacturer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. The company’s products are supplied to more than 80 countries through a network of sales offices located in the key markets of the CIS, the Middle East, North America and Europe. In 2021, Interpipe sold 602 thousand tons of pipe products and 174 thousand tons of railway products. Railway products are sold under the KLW brand.
Interpipe employs 10,000 people. In 2021, the company transferred almost UAH 3 billion to the budgets of all levels.
There are five industrial assets in the company’s structure: Interpipe Nizhnedneprovsk Pipe Rolling Plant (NTZ), Interpipe Novomoskovsky Pipe Plant (NMTZ), Interpipe Niko-Tube, Dnepropetrovsk Vtormet and the Dneprostal electric steel-smelting complex under the Interpipe Steel brand .
