“Nova Poshta, a leading logistics operator in Ukraine, notes a fairly strong demand for its bonds from a wide range of investors: insurance companies, pension funds, investment funds, and banks, which allows it to successfully place them.
“We have about UAH 60 million in investments from pension funds. Some people may think that the pension fund market in Ukraine is not developed, but we see that it is,” said NOVA CFO Petro Fokov at the Ukrainian CFO Forum held in Kyiv on October 24-25.
He clarified that Nova Poshta is currently conducting private placements of bonds among institutional investors, which are specified in the prospectus, but individuals can also buy them on the secondary market.
“We do have individuals (bondholders), but there are not so many of them compared to banks, insurance and pension funds,” Fokov stated.
The Nova Group CFO noted that Nova Poshta is one of the leading issuers of hryvnia bonds in Ukraine and in January 2023 became the first issuer to resume issuing after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
According to him, the advantage of hryvnia bonds for the issuer is the absence of collateral, which is currently difficult to assess for bank loans.
“But they (the bonds) are more expensive and require a little more transparency, i.e., you need to disclose a little more information on the website, but they have their advantages,” Fokov added.
He noted that the Nova group, whose companies also include NovaPay Credit, likes to support the bond market with an interesting offer and feels responsible for ensuring that these are reliable and stable instruments. “And people trusted such instruments as corporate bonds more than government bonds,” the CFO said.
According to him, in general, the group, whose investments this year will double the investments of 2021 and amount to UAH 8.5 billion, also uses loans from international financial organizations and banks for debt financing.
Fokov specified that among the IFIs, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the first, with which the group signed a loan for UAH 3 billion this year.
“We take out loans from the EBRD in hryvnia, in hryvnia, because we are a hryvnia company, we do not take unnecessary risks, we want to be sure that we can repay the loan, so we calculate everything,” he added.
As for bank lending, the CFO said that the group cooperates with 10 leading Ukrainian banks.
According to him, having so many partner banks, each of which has its own requirements, Nova follows a strategy of complete unification of covenants, taking the most developed system of financial covenants of the EBRD as a basis.
“It covers all issues, all points. That is why we offer all our partner banks, with whom we are additionally starting to cooperate, to simply join this system of covenants or choose some requirements from this menu, so to speak. But not to give any exotic new requirements. We have managed to do it so far,” Fokov said.
As reported, in August of this year, Nova Poshta announced the placement of an issue of interest-bearing unsecured bonds of the F series with a total nominal value of UAH 1 billion. The bonds will mature on June 10, 2026, bear an interest rate of 16% per annum, mature on June 5, 2026, and have a face value of UAH 1 thousand.
Nova Poshta registered a report on the placement of the previous E series issue of the same volume with a maturity date of August 8, 2025 and an interest rate of 17% per annum with the NSSMC on July 4 this year. Most of it, worth UAH 650 million, was purchased in May by Oschadbank (Kyiv). It was clarified that this is the third deal since 2019 for the state-owned bank to finance Nova Poshta by purchasing corporate bonds.
As of the middle of this year, Nova Poshta’s liabilities on E series bonds amounted to UAH 995.16 million, F series – UAH 994.88 million, and on previously issued D series bonds maturing at the end of January 2025 – UAH 818.51 million.
As of the end of June this year, Nova Poshta’s total liabilities on bonds amounted to UAH 2 billion 808.55 million, while its liabilities to banks amounted to UAH 3 billion 136.12 million, and the total amount of liabilities and collateral amounted to UAH 15 billion 562.04 billion.
In 2023, Nova Poshta made two bond issues – “C” and “D” – each with a nominal amount of UAH 800 million. The C series bonds were issued for a 12-month term with a 24% p.a. interest rate, while the D series bonds were issued for a 20-month term with a 23% p.a. interest rate.
Earlier, in February 2023, the company redeemed the UAH 700 million Series B bonds issued in March 2020.
In the first half of 2024, Nova Poshta LLC increased its unconsolidated net income by 20.1% to UAH 20.12 billion, but the company’s net profit increased by 20.1%.
“Nova Poshta, Ukraine’s largest logistics operator, has raised its tariffs for the delivery of documents, parcels and cargo by an average of UAH 10 on October 1.
As the company posted on its website on Monday, a number of fees have been canceled, including the fee for the declared value of parcels returned.
Starting from October 1, sending documents in a branded envelope, which is included in the price, costs UAH 65, delivery of parcels up to 2 kg in the city costs UAH 60, up to 10 kg – UAH 90, up to 30 kg – UAH 140. For delivery in Ukraine, parcels up to 2 kg cost UAH 80, up to 10 kg – UAH 110, up to 30 kg – UAH 160. Cargoes over 30 kg are delivered between branches in the city with a coefficient of +0.5 UAH/kg, between branches in Ukraine: + 1 UAH/kg.
The fixed cost of packaging for parcels up to 30 kg when sent through a post office is UAH 15. Parcels can be packed free of charge in a branded package for 0.5 kg, 1 kg, 2 kg and 4 kg.
Nova Poshta explained the need to increase tariffs by the rising prices for energy – electricity and fuel – as well as rising consumer prices and inflation.
“By updating the tariffs, we are simultaneously introducing new technologies and improving the provision of services. The increase in tariffs will allow us to continue working and create an opportunity for Ukrainians to receive their parcels as quickly as possible,” Nova Poshta said in a statement.
It is noted that the company’s customers still have access to free services, including the service of return from the buyer to the seller if the goods do not fit; free parcel forwarding in Ukraine.
Nova Poshta, the largest logistics operator in Ukraine, is going to open two new offices in Spain – one in Barcelona and one in Benidorm, said Sergey Karputev, CEO of Nova Post in Spain.
“We are currently focusing on two areas of development: improving our services and developing our network. In the near future, we plan to open another branch in Barcelona and one in Benidorm,” he said.
According to the company’s press service, there are currently six Nova Poshta offices in Spain.
In Barcelona, the first branch was opened in September. It accepts shipments of up to 1 thousand kilograms.
The other five, in particular in Valencia, Alicante, Málaga and Torevieja, started operating in June-September. They accept parcels up to 30 kg.
In addition, Nova Poshta has started delivering parcels to post offices and pickup points. The company delivers prepaid parcels weighing up to 25 kg to 13.38 thousand InPost and GLS parcel delivery points, as well as to 1350 InPost post offices throughout Spain.
In this country, Nova Poshta customers can receive and send documents, parcels and cargo to/from Ukraine to other cities, as well as to 13 European countries where the company has offices. Delivery time: from Ukraine – from five business days, in Spain and between European countries – from one day, the press service said.
In addition, customers can order delivery or pickup by courier to any address in Spain.
A Boeing 737-800SF from the fleet of Supernova Airlines of the NOVA Group (Nova Poshta) has completed its first flight between European airports, the press service of the NOVA Group reports.
“On September 18, 2024, Supernova Airlines made the first flight on its own Boeing 737-800SF aircraft flying the flag of Ukraine, with Ukrainian registration marks UR-NPA. This was a certification flight, one of the final steps in the process of introducing the Boeing 737-800SF type to Supernova’s operator certificate by the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine,” the NOVA press service said.
The airline plans to start regular commercial operation of the aircraft in the winter season of 2024-2025.
Earlier, a Boeing 737-800 from Supernova’s fleet operated a maintenance flight from Guangzhou (China) to Vilnius (Lithuania) with a technical stop at Tashkent Airport.
The company clarified that the use of air transportation saves up to 36 hours on the delivery of parcels from (or to) Riga compared to trucks. It was also reported that Supernova Airlines plans to form a fleet in the future using cargo versions of modern aircraft manufactured by Boeing or Airbus.
Supernova Airlines has received a Ukrainian operator’s certificate, which allows it to start cargo flights on January 6, 2023.
After the launch of the online order delivery service Varus.ua via Nova Poshta in August, the average check increased by 55.14% and turnover by 50.57%, the retailer’s press service reports.
It is specified that the delivery service from Varus.ua is available to any city in Ukraine, and it is actively used in areas where there are no physical stores of the Varus chain.
In August, the top new regions where online orders were made were: Rivne, Lviv, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. In the regions where the chain is present, the highest number of orders was made in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The new service from Varus.ua can be used when ordering long-term storage products and non-food products, with a maximum order weight of 50 kg. Among the most popular products ordered by Varus.ua customers with delivery via Nova Poshta in August were snacks, pet products, beverages, tea, and coffee.
The cost of delivery is calculated according to Nova Poshta’s tariffs, and the estimated time for order picking and delivery is one day for most Ukrainian cities.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented on the Ukrainian grocery retail market by Omega. The authorized capital of Omega is UAH 111 million 129 thousand, the owner is Weigant Enterprises Limited (Cyprus), the ultimate beneficiaries are Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak. In 2023, Omega’s revenue amounted to UAH 17.51 billion, which is 20% higher than in 2022, and net profit amounted to UAH 200 million, which is 69.5% higher than in 2022.
The first store of the chain was opened in 2003 in Dnipro, and the total number of its stores is 109 in different cities of Ukraine and a DarkStore in Kyiv. The chain operates in several formats: classic supermarkets, To Go stores, and the varus.ua conscious shopping service.
“Nova Poshta is the largest logistics operator in Ukraine. From the beginning of 2024 to the end of July, the company expanded its network in the country from 26.6 thousand to 30.1 thousand points: up to 12.1 thousand branches and 18 thousand post offices. As reported, in Ukraine, Nova Poshta LLC increased its unconsolidated net income in the first half of 2024 by 20.1% to UAH 20.12 billion, while the company’s net profit decreased by 38.1% to UAH 1.49 billion.
Nova Poshta LLC plans to increase its investments in the Moldovan market to $880 thousand in 2024, which is 4.5 times more than the volume of such investments in 2023, the company’s press service said on Wednesday.
“The bulk of the investments will be directed to expanding our network, repairing branches, automating workplaces, updating IT infrastructure, and increasing the fleet of vehicles for delivery by couriers,” said Sergey Shapran, CEO of Nova Poshta in Moldova.
In addition, in 2025, Nova Poshta plans to create a new sorting hub in Moldova, where business customers will be able to use fulfillment services.
According to the company, over the 10 years of its operation in this country, Nova Poshta has become one of the three fastest deliveries in Moldova, and has built a network of 21 branches, 261 post offices and three sorting terminals.
In addition, it was the first company in the Moldovan market to launch parcel delivery points on the basis of existing businesses: shops, gas stations, etc. Currently, there are 53 delivery points in Moldova, and the company plans to further expand its network.
According to the report, in the first half of 2024, Nova Poshta in Moldova delivered 1.1 million parcels, almost as many as in the whole of 2023 (1.2 million), and paid 12.5 million lei in taxes to the local state budget of the country.
“In Moldova, Nova Poshta delivers parcels from marketplaces in China, America, Ukraine, as well as to/from Romania.
The company is also working on integrating Moldova into the Nova Post Europe system, which will allow customers to send and receive parcels from 13 European countries.
In the first half of 2024, the company delivered 771 thousand international parcels, compared to 590 thousand for the whole of 2023.
As reported, in the first half of 2024, Nova Poshta increased its consolidated net income by 22.6% to UAH 24.45 billion, while the company’s consolidated net profit decreased by 36.9% to UAH 1.48 billion.
