Business news from Ukraine

METINVEST INCREASES EBITDA BY 4 TIMES IN Q1

Consolidated revenue of Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group Metinvest, in January-March this year increased by 43% compared to the same period last year, to $3.624 billion.
According to the published preliminary unaudited consolidated results of the company’s financial statements, adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $1.462 million, which is 3.92 times higher than in the same period last year ($373 million). The margin was 40% (15% in Q1, 2020).
It is noted that Metinvest’s consolidated revenues rose by 43% which is driven primarily by higher selling prices of steel and iron ore products in line with global benchmarks. In addition, the Group increased sales volumes of flat products by 6% y-o-y, as a result of a recovery in demand in several strategic markets for the Group, as well as recently implemented investments.
Metinvest also boosted pellet shipments by 34% y-o-y, amid higher pellet premiums globally.
During the reporting period, revenues in Ukraine increased by 30% y-o-y, to $947 million. This was mainly due to higher average selling prices of steel and iron ore products, as well as higher sales volumes of iron ore products (up 17%) and coke (up 18%). The share of Ukraine in consolidated revenues edged down by 3 percentage points (p.p.) y-o-y, to 26%.
Sales to other markets increased by 48% y-o-y, to $2.677 million in the first quarter of 2021, accounting for 74% of total revenues. Sales to Europe surged by 54% y-o-y, primarily amid higher steel and iron ore selling prices. In addition, sales volumes of cast iron, flat products and pellets rose by 32%, 28% and 51%, respectively. As a result, the region’s share in overall revenues increased by 3 p.p. y-o-y, to 35%.
Revenues from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region rose by 48% y-o-y, mainly amid higher steel selling prices, as well as greater shipments of pig iron (up 29%), slabs (up 73%) and flat products (up 4%). The region’s share in consolidated revenues remained unchanged at 18%.
Sales to Southeast Asia increased by 9% y-o-y, amid higher iron ore selling prices despite practically no shipments of semi-finished and finished steel products to the region. Southeast Asia’s share in consolidated revenues declined by 2 p.p. y-o-y, to 8%.
Revenues from the CIS rose by 20% y-o-y, primarily as a result of higher selling prices for flat products. Meanwhile, the region’s share in consolidated revenues declined by 1 p.p. y-o-y, to 5%.
In the first quarter of this year, consolidated EBITDA was $1.462 billion, which is 3.9 times higher compared to the same period last year. This was primarily driven by an increase in the Mining segment’s contribution of $676 million and in the Metallurgical segment’s contribution of $494 million. In addition, corporate overheads decreased by $2 million, while eliminations increased by $83 million.
The increase in consolidated EBITDA was primarily attributable to higher average selling prices for steel and iron ore products, the effect of which on sales of Metinvest’s goods totaled $778 million. Higher prices also improved earnings from resales (up by $23 million) and the contribution of both joint ventures (up by $216 million).
In the first quarter of this year, the Group’s consolidated EBITDA margin increased by 25 p.p. y-o-y, to 40%. The Metallurgical segment’s EBITDA margin rose by 16 p.p. y-o-y, to 24%, while that of the Mining segment climbed by 38 p.p. y-o-y, to 75%.

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INTERPIPE SEES EBITDA FALL BY 53% IN Q 1

The international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company Interpipe in January-March of this year reduced its net profit by 90.4% compared to the same period last year, to $ 12.826 million from $ 133.064 million.
According to the company’s interim report on operating and financial results for the three months of 2021, in January-March 2021 revenue decreased by 19.9%, to $ 200.952 million.
According to the company’s press release, following the results of Q1, 2021, EBITDA decreased by 53%, to $ 40 million, the amount of capital investments increased by 58%, to $ 17 million.
Net debt was $ 53 million with a net leverage ratio (net debt to EBITDA) of 0.2x.
The press release notes that in the first quarter of 2021 Interpipe continued to operate in difficult market conditions, which affected its financial results. Total revenues decreased by 20%, mainly due to the deterioration in the performance of the railway division after the imposition by Russia of embargo on the import of Ukrainian railway products. Thus, the revenues of the railway products division fell by 53%, while sales volumes decreased by 32%.
As a result, EBITDA for the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 53%. An additional negative effect is associated with the continuing global growth in market prices for goods and metal products. At the same time, the selling prices for steel pipes and railway products lagged behind the rise in production costs.
At the same time, Interpipe increased its capital investment by investing $ 17 million in overhaul and production development.
As of March 31, 2021, the company’s total debt fell to $ 110 million following the full redemption of 2024 eurobonds on January 26, 2021, keeping the net leverage ratio (net debt to EBITDA) at a low 0.2x.

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METINVEST INCREASES EBITDA BY 33% IN FEBRUARY

The revenue of Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group, in February this year increased by 17.9%, or $ 185 million compared to the previous month, to $ 1.216 billion from $ 1.031 billion.
According to the published preliminary unaudited consolidated monthly results of the company’s financial statements, total EBITDA in February was $ 503 million, which is $ 125 million, or 33.1%, higher than in January ($ 378 million), while EBITDA from participation in joint venture amounted to $ 86 million (in January – $ 80 million).
According to the report, the adjusted EBITDA of the metallurgical division of the group for February 2021 amounted to “plus” $ 257 million (in January – “plus” $ 171 million), including $ 21 million from participation in joint venture ($ 13 million), while EBITDA of the mining division – $ 318 million ($ 234 million), including from joint venture – $ 65 million ($ 67 million). The management company spent $ 6 million ($ 7 million).
Total revenue in February consisted of $ 920 million ($ 789 million in January) from the metallurgical division, $ 426 million ($ 329 million) from the mining division, and $ 130 million from intra-group sales ($ 87 million).
The total debt of the company in February increased by $ 83 million compared to January, to $ 3.033 billion from $ 2.950 billion, while the volume of cash increased by $ 61 million, to $ 1.180 billion from $ 1.119 billion.
Funds used in investment activities amounted to $ 201 million, in financial activities – $ 90 million.
Metinvest in February received $ 58 million from the resale of square billets in the amount of 95,000 tonnes. In addition, $ 170 million was received from the resale of 258,000 tonnes of flat products, 47,000 tonnes of long rolled products brought $ 32 million, 89,000 tonnes of pig iron – $ 45 million
The main shareholders of Metinvest are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart-Holding (23.76%), jointly managing the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.

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AGROTON INCREASES ITS EBITDA BY 14.6 TIMES IN 2020

At the end of 2020, Agroton Agroholding (Luhansk region) increased its net profit by 2.3 times compared to 2019 – up to $11.76 million, and its EBITDA increased by 14.6 times – up to $33.04 million.
According to the company’s annual financial report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange website, its annual revenue increased by a quarter – to $67.55 million, gross profit -by 3.2 times, to $32.91 million, operating profit amounted to $26.69 million versus an operating loss of $4.30 million obtained in 2019.
The assets of Agroton last year increased by 5.1% – up to $120.34 million.

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KSG AGRO INCREASES EBITDA IN Q1 BY 21%

The KSG Agro agricultural holding completed January-March 2021 with a net profit of $750,000 versus $3.02 million of a net loss for the same period in 2020.
According to the holding’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange website, its revenue over this period increased by 9%, to $3.52 million, and the company’s EBITDA by 21%, to $1.39 million.
According to the results of the first quarter, KSG Agro increased its gross profit by 18% compared to the first quarter of 2020, to $1.26, operating profit by 39%, to $1.01 million.
“As of the date of these financial statements, the total balance of ‘other financial liabilities’ as of December 31, 2020 decreased by an additional $9.4 million, with the current portion of this amount being $3.4 million. Liabilities were partially settled in cash and partially due to disposal subsidiaries Agrarian Firm Vesna LLC, Trading House UAIH LLC and Soyuz-3 LLC,” the agricultural holding said in the financial statements.
According to the agricultural producer, the retirement of three subsidiaries from the agricultural holding led to an increase in its consolidated capital from a negative value of $6.2 million “closer to a positive value.”
According to KSG Agro Board Chairman Serhiy Kasyanov, the main factors behind the growth of financial indicators were a decrease in unproductive costs, as well as an increase in demand for pork in the first quarter of 2021 after a drop in prices at the end of 2020.
The total revenue of KSG Agro from pig breeding and meat processing in the first quarter of 2021 amounted to $2.51 million, almost at the level of the same reporting period of 2020 ($2.56 million).
KSG Agro’s revenue from agricultural crops production amounted to $ 840,000 (versus $100,000 in January-March 2020). The company said that as an alternative source of income, KSG Agro used its equipment and experience to provide services for the preparation and processing of land for other agricultural producers, which brought in $720,000 in revenue.
According to the financial statements, coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic did not have a significant impact on the profitability of the agricultural holding, it is expected that the event in the future will not have a significant impact on its business operations in future periods.
The company’s spring sowing campaign started in early April as scheduled. The plans of the spring sowing campaign are to sow 7,100 hectares with wheat, some 1,860 hectares with rapeseed and some 1,180 hectares with barley. The pig stock of the company in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 1.7%, to 40,720 pigs.
According to the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, the agricultural holding in 2020 took 11th place in the rating of Ukrainian pork producers (the rating was compiled on the basis of data on the total breeding stock of pigs), having sold 11,760 tonnes of pork in live weight over the year.

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KYIVSTAR INCREASES EBITDA BY 15.3% IN Q1

The mobile network operator Kyivstar in January-March 2021 increased its total revenue by 15% compared to the same period in 2020, to UAH 6.842 billion, according to a financial report of the company’s shareholder, the international Veon group.
According to data published on the official website of Veon, in the first quarter, Kyivstar increased its EBITDA by 15.3% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 4.658 billion. EBITDA margin grew by 0.2 percentage points (pp), to 68.1%.
Total operating revenue from mobile services rose by 14.9%, to UAH 6.357 billion.
According to the operator’s own report, Kyivstar accelerated the construction of high-speed data transmission networks, which resulted in a 24.3% increase in the number of 4G subscribers.
In turn, the use of mobile Internet per subscriber grew by 27.5%.
“We expect Kyivstar to continue to deliver double-digit revenue growth in the remainder of 2021,” Veon said in the financial report.
Veon said that Kyivstar’s 4G coverage in Ukraine reached 87%, (an increase of 10 pp year-over-year), and the penetration of 4G mobile communications in the operator’s network reached 38% of the total base.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) of mobile communications increased to UAH 82, or by 16.1%, the minutes of use (MoU) – by 5.1%, to 633 minutes.
The number of Kyivstar mobile customers in January-March decreased 1.15%, to 25.7 million.
“Kyivstar’s total mobile customer base showed a year-over-year decline largely due to the decline of second SIM cards in the market and lower gross additions during lockdown when the strict measures in 2Q20 resulted in the partial closure of Kyivstar stores and lower customer mobility,” Veon said.
Total operating revenue from fixed-line communication grew by 17.2%, to 451 million, broadband ARPU rose by 5.4%, to UAH 85. The number of broadband customers increased 11.5%, to 1.15 million.
Capex excluding licenses and leases (operational capex) increased by 11.7% year-over-year.
Revenue in the B2B segment grew by 6% in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting Kyivstar’s promotion of new digital solutions for its business customers and rapid growth in Big Data.
Veon said that digital adoption and usage have accelerated in the last twelve months. In Q1 2021, the number of MyKyivstar self-care users was at 2.7 million, up 76% year-over-year, while the Kyivstar TV service users increased to 414,342.
Kyivstar paid UAH 2.3 billion of taxes and duties to the national budget.
Kyivstar is a market-leading telecoms operator in Ukraine. It provides communication and data services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed-line technologies, including 3G.
The shareholder of Kyivstar is the international group VEON (earlier – VimpelCom Ltd.). The group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (New York).

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