The liquidation commission has sold the property of Ilyichevsk Oil and Fats Plant LLC (Chernomorsk, Odessa Region) for UAH 696.66 million to Poltava-Zerno LLC, 95% of which belongs to the Kernel agricultural holding.
According to information in Prozorro.Sale, the auction was held on July 26 with a starting price of UAH 689.6 million, and Poltava-Zerno was the only participant.
It is specified that the buyer has already paid UAH 55.04 million of the guarantee fee, part of which in the amount of UAH 13.93 million went to the remuneration of the operator of the electronic platform – LLC “Onylan-Market”.
The new owner received, in particular, a land plot of 8.58 hectares with communications, where the plant is located, a complex of buildings and structures, as well as transport, tanks, reservoirs, production lines, minibus and other property.
Ilyichevsk Oil and Fats Plant LLC is bankrupt. According to open data opendatabot.ua, as of 2020 its assets were estimated at UAH 205.324 million, profit – UAH 481.721 million, income – UAH 22.836 million. At the same time, debt obligations reached UAH 2.587 billion.
Agroholding “Kernel” before the war ranked first in the world in the production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%). The company is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, the agroholding is engaged in the cultivation of agricultural products and their realization.
The largest co-owner of Kernel through Namsen Ltd. – is Ukrainian businessman Andriy Verevsky, who this year, as part of the buyout and delisting of the company from the Warsaw Stock Exchange, increased his stake from 41.3% to 74.05%.
Kernel’s net profit for the first nine months of 2023FY (January-March 2023) rose 36% to $437 mln, while revenue fell 45% to $2.715 bln.
As reported, Kernel recently reported that 40% of its grain storage and transshipment capacity at the Chernomorsk port was damaged as a result of a missile attack by Russia on the night of July 19, and it will take at least 12 months to restore these assets. In addition to the damage to infrastructure during this attack, a fire at the Chernomorsk port partially destroyed and damaged 60,000 tons of grain prepared for loading onto the large-capacity vessel Alexis and which was to be shipped to China.
Kernel Agroholding, one of the largest in Ukraine, processed 650.4 thousand tons of sunflower seeds in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 (April-June), a 4-fold increase compared to the same period last FY.
According to the company’s report, processing was down 13% quarter-on-quarter, reflecting the usual sunflower seed shortage near the end of the season, which forced three of the group’s six operating plants to temporarily stop processing oilseeds in May-June.
“Two processing plants owned by the Group remain inaccessible in the high-risk area of the Kharkiv region with regular shelling by Russian occupiers,” the report states.
Overall, in 2023 FG processing grew by 15% to 2.51 million tons.
According to the report, vegetable oil sales in April-June 2023 increased by 14% quarter-on-quarter to 312,700 tons, including 21,000 tons of bottled sunflower oil, and the growth was fivefold compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
“The group continues to prioritize vegetable oil and meal exports over grain exports, given the more attractive margins in the oilseed processing value chain compared to grain export operations,” it said.
For the entire 2023 FY, sales reached 1 million 132.7 thousand tons, exceeding the previous FY by 17%.
It is pointed out that Kernel’s silo loadings in the fourth quarter of FY 2023 were seasonally insignificant at 98,000 tons, 50% higher than the fourth quarter of last year. As a result, total intake during FY 2023 was 2.83 million tons, down 32% from FY 2022.
According to the report, the transshipment volume of export terminals in Ukraine in April-June 2023 decreased by 13% quarter-on-quarter to 933.1 thousand tons, while there was no transshipment in the same period last year.
Overall for FY 2023, Kernel terminals transshipped 4 million 437.7 thousand tons of goods, 39% less than a year earlier, which the company attributed to failures in the grain deal.
“Russia terminated the grain deal on July 18, 2023. Thus, the Group’s future ability to export goods through Ukrainian Black Sea ports is unclear,” the report states.
“Kernel” recalled that on July 19, its assets in the port of “Chernomorsk” were subjected to a massive missile attack from Russia. As a result, grain transshipment facilities and grain stored in the port were significantly damaged. According to initial estimates, it will take considerable time to return the assets to operation.
According to the report, the group’s grain exports from Ukraine in the fourth quarter of FY 2023 amounted to 755,000 tons, down 8% from the previous quarter but 6 times higher than in the fourth quarter of FY 2022.
On a year-on-year basis, Kernel’s grain export volumes more than halved year-on-year to 3 million 833.2 thousand tons, the document specifies.
“Kernel” before the war ranked first in the world in the production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%), and was the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. In addition, the company was engaged in the cultivation of other agro-products and their sales.
Kernel’s net profit for the first nine months of 2023FY increased by 36% to $437 mln, while revenues fell by 45% to $2.715 bln.
Kernel Agroholding’s assets in the port of Chernomorsk were subjected to a massive missile attack from Russia on Wednesday and suffered significant damage, the company said in a statement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
“The company’s grain handling facilities as well as grain stored at the Chernomorsk port were significantly damaged. Initial assessments indicate that it will take considerable time to return the assets to working condition,” Kernel said.
Reports of the damage led to a collapse of the share price on the exchange from PLN13.53 to PLN12.34 and high volatility: at one point they managed to recover the fall, but by 15:00 local time they were quoted at around PLN12.7-12.9, about 5% below the opening price.
As reported, the company’s CEO Yevhen Osipov in early July at a meeting of the grain club of the Ukrainian Grain Association reported on the need for further development of alternative corridors for export of Ukrainian agricultural products already built on the Danube and assured that Ukraine can fulfill forward deliveries through them.
Before the war, Kernel Agroholding ranked first in the world in the production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%). The company is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, the agroholding is engaged in the cultivation of agricultural products and their realization.
The largest co-owner of Kernel through Namsen Ltd. – is Ukrainian businessman Andriy Verevsky with a 41.3% stake, who recently proposed delisting the company from the Warsaw Stock Exchange and buying back shares from other shareholders.
Kernel’s net profit for the first nine months of 2023FY (Jan-March 2023) rose 36% to $437 mln, while revenue fell 45% to $2.715 bln.
Ukrainian agro-industrial group Kernel signed an agreement to expand cooperation with Polish fuel importer Unimot Group, the company reported on Facebook.
“With the start of a full-scale war, we, along with other market participants, were forced to reorient fuel supply chains. In the midst of this process, Kernel signed its first formula contract with Polish fuel importer Unimot Group,” the agricultural holding company’s press office noted.
According to the agreement signed during Petroleum Ukraine 2023 conference, the Polish company will supply fuel, lubricants, bitumen and gas to the holding. For its part, Kernel will develop the storage and transport infrastructure and use mutually beneficial financial mechanisms.
The companies also agreed to cooperate in solar energy and projects aimed at decarbonizing production.
Unimot Group is the leader among Polish importers: 1.8 mln cubic meters of annual sales, 9 fuel terminals with a total capacity of 350 thousand cubic meters. The company owns a network of AVIA petrol stations with more than 3,200 stations in Europe.
Before the war, Kernel ranked first in the world in sunflower oil production (about 7% of world output) and its export (about 12%). The company is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. Besides, Kernel is engaged in cultivation of agricultural products and their realization.
Kernel cut its net profit in 1HFY2023 (July-December 2022) by 12.6% YoY to $370.31 mln, while revenues decreased by 41.3% to $1 bln 889.78 mln.
“Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agro-industrial groups, in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023 (FY, January-March 2023), earned $69 million in net profit, while it ended the same period last year with a net loss of $103 million.
According to a financial report on the company’s Web site, the agriholding’s revenue fell 51 percent to $825 million in the reporting period.
EBITDA for the third quarter of 2023FY was $155 million, compared to a negative $32 million in 2022FY.
Compared to the previous quarter, net income decreased by 67%, EBITDA – by 44%, and revenue – by 33%, Kernel said.
Agroholding attributed this decrease to a decrease in both volumes and prices.
The company added that the net change in fair value of biological assets resulted in a loss of $11 million in January-March 2023, compared to a loss of $74 million in the same period the previous year.
“Kernel also recognized a $20 million asset impairment loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
It is specified that in the structure of EBITDA the segment of infrastructure and trade in the third quarter of FY 2023 decreased by 32% year-on-year to $71 million, but was higher by 15% quarter-on-quarter, which was facilitated by a high trade markup on grain of Ukrainian origin.
Due to a decrease in world prices for grains and oilseeds in January-March 2023, the agriculture segment posted a $24 million loss in the reporting period.
According to the report, Kernel managed to reduce its net debt to $833 million as of March 31 this year from $1.048 billion at the beginning of the year and $1.715 billion at the end of March last year.
At the same time, agricultural stocks decreased to $497 million from $593 million and $1.181 billion, respectively.
Overall, Kernel increased its net profit by 36% YoY to $437 mln and EBITDA by 11% while revenues decreased by 45% to $2.715 bln in 9M2003.
As reported, Kernel ended FY2022 with a net loss of $41 million compared to $506 million in net income in the previous fiscal year on revenue down 5% to $5.332 billion.
Kernel Agro-Industrial Group, as of mid-May, has fulfilled 95% of its plans to sow spring crops, allocating 35% of the area for sunflower and 18% for soybeans, the company said on Facebook.
“Agroclimatic features of the current season: a large amount of precipitation in March and April, a high level of subsurface water in some regions and, accordingly, the waterlogging of much of the fields – have significantly adjusted the production program of agricultural enterprises “Kernel”,” the company said in its information.
As reported, the sunflower accounts for 35% of sown area, or 120 thousand hectares, the corn – 24%, or 85 thousand hectares, the soybean – 18%, or 65 thousand hectares.
Moreover, winter wheat accounts for 17%, or 60.4 thousand hectares in the structure of areas under crops. Areas under rape and perennial grasses are traditionally insignificant, the holding said.
It is stated that Kharkiv cluster was able to carry out seeding on 28 thousand hectares, and another 1 thousand hectares were left without treatment because of security reasons, as these lands are located 40 km from the front line – in Kupiansky area. As of May 16, 100% of the planned areas for the season were sown in the cluster.
According to Alexander Zvyagintsev, deputy head of production of the Kharkiv cluster, 35% of the area is planted to winter wheat, 30% to sunflower, 15% to winter rape, 10% to corn, and 10% to soybeans.
Druzhba Nova” cluster team in Sumy region took 177 thousand hectares of arable land for the future harvest, while 7 thousand hectares near the Russian border were left uncultivated.
Druzhba Nova” cluster head for production, Igor Tihonchuk, said that corn and sunflower are already being sown; 20% and 35% of the crop is under crop cultivation correspondingly. Sowing of soybeans, which will take 24% of the area, will be completed by May 25. Sowing of winter wheat will occupy 17% of the area.
According to the holding, because of the oversaturated fields, some early spring technological operations have been canceled, replaced or shifted in time. The shift in timing affected the beginning of the sowing season, which in all regions began in late April, which is two weeks later than the traditional dates.
Kernel Agronomic reported favorable sowing conditions for sunflower and corn, which were sown in parallel to accelerate the pace of the sowing season.
“Most agroclusters have completed corn and sunflower seeding and are completing soybean seeding. This is a heat-loving crop, the conditions for sowing which were not favorable until May 5-6. Despite the vagaries of weather, 80% of areas for the next soybean crop we plan to sow at the optimum time for the crop, “- summed up the agricultural holding.
“Kernel” before the war was the world’s number one producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%), as well as the biggest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. The company was also engaged in cultivation of other agricultural products and their sale.
In FY2022 (July-2021 – June-2022), the holding posted a net loss of $41 mln versus $506 mln net profit in the previous FY, while its revenue decreased by 5% to $5.332 bln and EBITDA decreased by 3.7 times to $220 mln.
