Business news from Ukraine

KREMENCHUK STEEL PLANT POSTS LOSS IN 2020

Kremenchuk Steel Plant (Kremenchuk, Poltava region), which is part of the industrial assets of TAS Group, according to preliminary data, in 2020 received a net loss of UAH 22.81 million, while in 2019 its net profit amounted to UAH 66.03 million.
According to the information on the agenda of a general meeting of shareholders of the company scheduled for April 30, published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the uncovered loss of the plant by January 1, 2021 amounted to UAH 50.57 million (a year earlier – UAH 27.71 million).
As reported, in 2019, the plant reduced its net profit by 3.2 times compared to 2018.
According to the plant, by the beginning of 2021 its current liabilities amounted to UAH 342.19 million, which is 9.5% more than a year earlier, long-term liabilities decreased by 3%, to UAH 258.74 million.
The company’s assets in 2019 increased by 6.6%, amounting to UAH 854.79 million, in particular total debtor indebtedness rose by 90%, to UAH 240.94 million.
Net worth as of January 1, 2021 amounted to UAH 253.86 million, in particular charter capital – UAH 132.12 million.
Kremenchuk Steel Plant is the leading foundry enterprise in Ukraine for production of steel castings for freight cars and heavy trucks.

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AGRICULTURAL HOLDING MHP ENDS 2020 WITH NET LOSS OF $133 MLN (UPDATED)

Myronivsky Hliboproduct agricultural holding (MHP) received a net loss of $133 million in 2020 versus a net profit of $215 million in 2019, mainly due to exchange rate losses of $204 million due to the annual depreciation of hryvnia by 16%, and the company’s revenue decreased by 7%, to $1.91 billion.
According to the quarterly financial statements of the holding, released on London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, its adjusted EBITDA and operating income decreased by 7%, respectively, to $395 million and $201 million, while the profitability of sales (EBITDA margin) remained at the 2019 level of 21%.
The agricultural holding noted the impact of exchange rate losses in the amount of $204 million on the company’s financial indicators, saying that excluding exchange rate differences, the company’s net profit in 2020 would have been $71 million against $30 million in 2019.
MHP said that in 2020, export revenue decreased by 9.1%, to $1.015 billion, which is 53% of total revenue (56% of total revenue in 2019).
The agricultural holding said that the situation in export markets has deteriorated significantly due to several outbreaks of bird flu in early and late 2020 and the effect of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic throughout the year.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, MHP reduced its net loss by 60%, year-over-year, to $24 million, its total revenue decreased by 10%, to $497 million, and export revenue decreased by 19.3%, to $255 million (51% of total revenue).
MHP’s gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased by 44%, year-over-year, to $75 million, operating profit amounted to $7 million against an operating loss of $2 million, however EBITDA decreased by 10%, to $63 million.
Chief Executive Officer of the company Yuriy Kosyuk said in the statement that the company managed not only to adapt to the serious challenges of 2020, but also to become more resilient and take advantage of new opportunities. He said that as part of the strategic shift announced a year ago towards more customer-oriented products, including with additional processing and added value, for the domestic market of Ukraine and some export markets, the company launched a number of pilot projects for culinary transformation, including Meat Market convenience stores and DönerMarket houses.
“These offerings are at an early pilot stage and I look forward to updating you on progress in due course as this model is rolled-out more extensively over the next several years, transforming the group’s sales […] to a branded value-added base,” Kosyuk said.
According to the report, revenue for the company’s main chicken production segment in 2020 decreased by 5%, to $1.298 billion, and gross profit due to a decrease in meat prices by 30%, to $191 million, EBITDA by 31%, to $194 million. In the fourth quarter, sales in this segment decreased by 3%, to $328 million, while gross profit and EBITDA due to higher prices for cereals fell 66.7%, to $15 million and $14 million, respectively.
In the crop production segment, MHP’s revenue fell by half in 2020 due to a lower harvest, to $134 million, but due to price increases, gross profit increased 3.2 times to $94 million, and EBITDA by 38%, to $150 million.
In meat processing, sales over 2020 decreased by 3%, to $144 million, while gross profit and EBITDA remained at the same level of $19 million and $20 million, respectively. In the fourth quarter, revenue in this segment decreased by 10%, to $38 million, gross profit by 44%, to $5 million and EBITDA by 38%, to $5 million.
At the same time, the company managed to achieve significant improvement in the performance of Slovenian Perutnina Ptuj and its operations in Croatia and Serbia, which are reported as a European operating segment. Its revenue in 2020 increased by 24%, to $335 million, gross profit by 21%, to $93 million, EBITDA by 25%, to $55 million. In the fourth quarter, sales increased by 12%, to $87 million, gross profit by 5%, to $22 million, and EBITDA remained at $15 million.
In terms of other indicators, the company said that its capital investments in 2020 decreased by 30%, to $79 million, available cash from $341 million to $218 million, and net debt increased from $1.139 billion to $1.244 billion.
In its forecast, MHP said the prospects for the development of poultry farming in 2021 will be very difficult, given the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, weak economic conditions, high feed prices, a very active winter season for bird flu and global oversupply, however the company is confident in its business.
“Transformation to a culinary company: MHP is expanding its focus. The experience of global poultry producers supports MHP’s strategic shift to a culinary company. Moreover, we are transforming our relationship with retail, HoReCa and franchisees in order to reach more customers and meet their evolving needs by providing them with new safe and high quality products. Current challenges have led us to accelerate this strategic shift,” the company said in the report.
The company said that its continued vertical integration provides a significantly lower cost base compared to peers in the industry, as well as improved quality control and better biosecurity of poultry stock, and added that the demand for poultry meat is growing globally along with the decline in demand for red meat.
With regard to possible mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the agricultural holding indicates that it continues to monitor global developments and the potential for mergers and acquisitions. “MHP is well positioned to become an active participant in the ongoing consolidation of the industry,” the company said in the report.
MHP is the largest chicken producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the production of cereals, sunflower oil, meat products. MHP supplies the European market with chilled half-carcasses of chickens, which are processed, including at its factories in the Netherlands and Slovakia.

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AGRICULTURAL HOLDING MHP ENDS 2020 WITH NET LOSS OF $133 MLN

Myronivsky Hliboproduct agricultural holding (MHP) received a net loss of $133 million in 2020 versus a net profit of $215 million in 2019, mainly due to exchange rate losses of $204 million due to the annual depreciation of hryvnia by 16%, and the company’s revenue decreased by 7%, to $1.91 billion.
According to the quarterly financial statements of the holding, released on London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, its adjusted EBITDA and operating income decreased by 7%, respectively, to $395 million and $201 million, while the profitability of sales (EBITDA margin) remained at the 2019 level of 21%.
MHP said that in 2020, export revenue decreased by 9.1%, to $1.015 billion, which is 53% of total revenue (56% of total revenue in 2019).
In the fourth quarter of 2020, MHP reduced its net loss by 60%, year-over-year, to $24 million, its total revenue decreased by 10%, to $497 million, and export revenue decreased by 19.3%, to $255 million (51% of total revenue).
MHP is the largest chicken producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the production of cereals, sunflower oil, meat products. MHP supplies the European market with chilled half-carcasses of chickens, which are processed, including at its factories in the Netherlands and Slovakia.

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KERNEL ‘S POLTAVA OIL CRUSHING PLANT SEES UAH 104.65 MLN OF NET LOSS IN PREVIOUS YEAR

PrJSC Poltava Oil Crushing Plant, one of the largest producers of sunflower oil in Ukraine, saw UAH 104.65 million in net loss in 2020 versus UAH 63.15 million in net profit a year earlier.
According to the company’s statement in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, its assets during the year grew by 1.7%, to UAH 1.32 billion, and the uncovered loss amounted to UAH 49.29 million versus UAH 54.92 UAH million of net profit a year earlier.
According to the results of the year, the total accounts receivable of PJSC Poltava Oil Crushing Plant decreased by 65.5%, to UAH 180.19 million.
According to the report, at the annual meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 16, it is planned to obtain approval for the company to carry out significant transactions with a total value of up to UAH 5 billion, which can be used by the company to conduct business in 2021. The agenda of the meeting also includes the appointment of Niva-Audit to conduct a statutory audit of the company’s financial statements for 2019.
According to the unified public register of legal entities and private entrepreneurs, the Poltava Oil Crushing Plant belongs to the largest shareholder of the Kernel agricultural holding Andriy Verevsky.

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PROVIDNA INSURANCE COMPANY CUTS UNCOVERED LOSS BY 16%

The uncovered loss of Providna Insurance Company (Kyiv) in 2020 decreased by 16%, to UAH 486.637 million, follows from the agenda of the shareholders’ meeting on April 16, promulgated in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
According to the statement, the company’s net profit in 2020 amounted to UAH 93.731 million against a net loss of UAH 21.889 million in 2019. The company’s shareholders plan to keep the net profit unallocated.
The company also said that as of December 31, 2020, its assets increased by 24.6%, to UAH 715.310 million, cash and their equivalent decreased 60%, to UAH 59.053 million, equity capital increased by 48.3%, to UAH 292.178 million, accounts receivable increased by 35.1%, to UAH 215.044 million.
The company’s long-term liabilities over the year increased by 6.8%, to UAH 375.913 million, current by 86.9%, to UAH 47.219 million.

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ENERGOATOM POSTS UAH 4.8 BLN OF NET LOSS

National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom received UAH 4.8 billion of net loss in 2020 versus UAH 3.7 billion of net profit in 2019, the communications department of Energoatom said on Thursday.
According to the company’s financial statements for last year, its net income amounted to UAH 45.648 billion, down by 6.6% compared to the previous year (UAH 48.846 billion), and gross profit – UAH 6.837 billion (51% less, UAH 11.569 billion).
At the same time, EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, amounted to UAH 13.3 billion.
As the company said, UAH 4.8 billion of net loss arose as a result of four factors beyond the control of the state-owned enterprise.
The first one is the cost of the exchange rate difference when servicing foreign currency loans. Thanks to them, at present, in particular, the project for the construction of the Central Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel and the comprehensive (consolidated) program for improving the safety of NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) power units are being implemented. Due to the significant growth of the euro and the U.S. dollar during 2020, the company’s losses in servicing foreign currency loans amounted to UAH 6.601 billion.
The second factor is the compulsory reduction in the volume of commercial products of Energoatom from 80.6 billion kWh to 73.7 billion kWh in accordance with the forecast balance approved by the Energy Ministry in April last year. As a result of balance constraints, some NPP power units were put on reserve for a period of one to three months, others operated with capacity constraints from 10% to 40%. As a result, the company received less than UAH 4.7 billion of income.
The next factor is direct losses due to the discrepancy between the cost of electricity produced by the NPP and the price at which Energoatom supplies it to the population within the framework of public service obligations (PSO) imposed on it by the government. As a result of the sale of half of the electricity produced at a price of UAH 0.01 per kWh, within the framework of the PSO project, losses amounted to UAH 1.2 billion.
The fourth factor is the total debt to Energoatom in the amount of UAH 22.6 billion. Of these, UAH 11.6 billion is the debt of the no longer functioning state-owned enterprise Energorynok, UAH 6.5 billion is the debt of the Guaranteed Buyer and UAH 4.4 billion is the debt of NPC Ukrenergo.
“That is, the operating activity of the state enterprise is profitable, and the net loss at the level of UAH 4.8 billion is explained by the cost of the exchange rate difference when servicing foreign currency loans, losses from the implementation of PSO and balance sheet restrictions, as well as the huge accounts receivable of Energoatom,” the company said.
At the same time, Energoatom plans to complete the first quarter of 2021 with net profit.

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