Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

“Nova Poshta” has expanded its network in Ukraine by 13.2%

Since the beginning of 2024, Nova Poshta has expanded its network in Ukraine from 26.6 thousand to 30.1 thousand service points: 12.1 thousand branches and 18 thousand post offices.

“Our goal is to have all branches and post offices within walking distance to be convenient,” the company’s release on Friday quoted Nova Poshta CEO Oleksandr Bulba as saying.

According to the report, since the beginning of the year, the company has installed 2.7 thousand new post offices in Ukraine and opened 770 branches.

It is noted that the most active growth of the network took place in Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

It was specified that Nova Poshta opened 344 new branches and post offices in the frontline areas in Kharkiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kherson, and Dnipro regions.

The company noted that by the end of the year it plans to increase its network to 36 thousand service points.

“Nova Poshta” continues to expand its network in Czech Republic

Nova Poshta Group has expanded its network of Nova Post offices in the Czech Republic to five cities: after opening in Prague, Brno and Liberec, the company has expanded to Pilsen and Pardubice, its press service reports.

The press release, citing NovaPost CEO in the Czech Republic Andrey Artemenko, said that the next branches of the company will appear in Ostrava, Mladá Boleslav, and České Budějovice.

“We also plan to develop a network of branches within existing businesses, and therefore invite owners of shops, supermarkets, coworking spaces, dry cleaning salons, and others to cooperate,” Artemenko added.

It is specified that Nova Poshta currently has more than 35 thousand points of service for sending and receiving parcels in Europe, of which 90 are Nova Post’s own branches in 13 European countries: Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Moldova and the United Kingdom.

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“Nova Poshta” has launched service of sending parcels between European countries

“Nova Poshta has launched a service for sending parcels between European countries where it has a Nova Post office.

The service is available in all countries where the company operates, except for Moldova, Romania, and the United Kingdom, the press service of Nova Poshta reported on Friday.

“Our mission is to make delivery easy for life and business. That is why we are not only expanding our network, but also expanding the range of services. From now on, Nova Post unites not only the EU with Ukraine, but also European countries with each other, providing fast, easy and safe delivery within two days,” commented Volodymyr Popereshnyuk, co-owner of Nova Poshta.

“Nova Poshta” customers from European countries can send documents, parcels or cargo up to 100 kg to other foreign branches of the company. The shipments are delivered to the branch, to the address, to a post office or to a parcel delivery point. The cost of delivery depends on the weight of the shipment and the distance between the countries. If you send a 2 kg parcel from Poland to Germany, the price at a Nova Post office will be PLN43, and to Spain – PLN65. Ordering a courier service will cost PLN10 in addition to the cost, the press service of Nova Poshta said.

It is noted that digital tools are also available for international shipments: a multilingual website, a mobile application, and a business account.

Earlier, Nova Poshta opened the first two Nova Post branches in the UK, and on the eve of April 30 – in Spain.

“Nova Poshta has more than 35 thousand points of service for sending and receiving parcels in Europe, of which 90 are its own Nova Post offices in 13 countries: Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Spain and the UK.

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Oschadbank buys bonds of Nova Poshta for UAH 650 mln

State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has entered into an agreement with Nova Poshta to purchase unsecured corporate bonds of the E series with a maturity of 15 months for UAH 650 million, the press service of the financial institution reported on Tuesday.

“The acquisition of bonds for such a significant amount demonstrates both Oschad’s readiness to share risks with businesses to rebuild the country and the impeccable reputation of Nova Poshta,” Yuriy Katsiyon, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschad responsible for corporate business, said in a press release.

“In addition, this project can be another step towards popularizing securities as an alternative tool for raising funds for the development of Ukrainian business,” he added.

It is specified that the issue of series E bonds was registered on April 26, 2024. This is the third transaction since 2019 to finance Nova Poshta by the state bank through the purchase of corporate bonds.

“Thanks to the funding raised, Nova Poshta is able to actively invest in the development and improvement of operational processes, quickly recover from infrastructure shelling, and our customers can continue to receive quality service,” Serhiy Yermolenko, Director of Corporate Finance at NOVA Group, was quoted as saying.

As reported earlier, Nova Poshta LLC, the largest logistics operator in Ukraine and a member of the NOVA Group, issued interest-bearing unsecured corporate bonds of series E and F with a nominal amount of UAH 1 billion each, which were registered by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) on April 26 this year.

No other information on the parameters of these issues, including the maturity and yield, is yet available on the regulator’s website or the issuer’s website.

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, Nova Poshta redeemed the UAH 700 million of Series B bonds issued in March 2020.

In 2023, the consolidated net income of “Nova Poshta” LLC amounted to UAH 43.65 billion, which is 53.3% more than in 2022, and the consolidated net profit reached UAH 4.28 billion, which is 31.1% better than in 2022.

According to its unconsolidated financial statements, in 2023, Nova Poshta LLC increased its net profit by 85.7% to UAH 3 billion 967.2 million, while its revenue increased by 54% to UAH 36.47 billion.

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Nova Poshta has opened Nova Post postal and cargo office in London

Nova Poshta has opened a Nova Post postal and cargo office in London and launched courier delivery in the UK, the company’s press service said on Monday.

“Today we are celebrating the official start of work in the UK market. Along with the opening of branches, we have also launched courier delivery,” said Vyacheslav Klimov, co-owner of NOVA Group.

In its consolidated annual report for 2023, Nova Poshta indicated that in March 2023, UK Novapay LTD (London) was established. The company’s contribution at the time of establishment amounted to UAH 13.7 million, and additional contributions to the authorized capital during 2023 amounted to UAH 26.21 million. According to reports, Nova Poshta’s share in UK Novapay LTD was 75% at the end of last year.

According to Klymov, in the near future, Nova Poshta customers will also be able to send and receive parcels through the network of post offices of the company’s partner InPost.

According to the company’s press release, Nova Post’s post office in London accepts parcels up to 30 kg, while the freight office accepts parcels up to 1,000 kg.

The cost of delivery from Ukraine to the UK is UAH 900 for documents, UAH 950, UAH 1.5 thousand and UAH 2.5 thousand for parcels up to 2 kg, 10 kg and 30 kg, respectively.

In addition, customers can order delivery of parcels up to 100 kg by courier to any address in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. For parcels up to 30 kg, customers will have to pay an additional UAH 100, and for every 100 kg of parcel, UAH 250.

“Nova Poshta currently has more than 35,000 points of service for sending and receiving parcels in Europe, of which 90 are Nova Post’s own branches in 13 countries: Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

As reported, on April 30, Nova Poshta opened the first Nova Post office in Spain.

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“Nova Poshta” increased its consolidated revenue by 53.3%

In 2023, the consolidated net income of Nova Poshta LLC amounted to UAH 43.65 billion, which is 53.3% more than in 2022 (UAH 28.46 billion), according to the company’s consolidated financial statements.

“The group’s revenue from services includes revenues from express delivery of UAH 36.7 billion (84% of the group’s total revenue) and revenues from money transfers of UAH 6.5 billion (15% of its total revenue)…”, the auditor Baker Tilly Ukraine notes in the report.

According to the report, the consolidated net profit of Nova Poshta reached UAH 4.28 billion last year, which is 31.1% better than in 2022.

As previously reported with reference to unconsolidated financial statements, in 2023, Nova Poshta LLC increased its net profit by 85.7% to UAH 3 billion 967.2 million, and its revenue increased by 54% to UAH 36.47 billion.

It is specified that the group’s consolidated gross profit increased by 64.9% last year to UAH 12.15 billion, and operating profit by 46.4% to UAH 7.44 billion.

It is also noted that net cash flow from operating activities in 2023 increased to UAH 8.27 billion from UAH 6.07 billion a year earlier, while negative cash flow from investing activities increased to UAH 4.96 billion from UAH 2.58 billion, and from financing activities – to UAH 1.73 billion from UAH 1.67 billion.

At the end of 2023, the Group’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to UAH 6.5 billion compared to UAH 4.94 billion a year earlier, and net debt amounted to UAH 5.65 billion compared to UAH 4.07 billion.

The consolidated report states that in 2023, Nova Poshta established 18 subsidiaries abroad, 15 of which are wholly owned by the group, bringing the total number of foreign companies to 20 at the end of 2023.

For example, in March, UK Novapay LTD was established with a contribution of UAH 13.7 million at the time of establishment, but during the year, additional contributions to the authorized capital amounted to UAH 26.2 million.

In 2023, investments in Nova Post Estonia OU and Nova Post Latvia SIA, established in the same March, amounted to UAH 12 million and UAH 16.0 million, respectively, while investments in Nova Post FR SAS and Nova Post IT S.R.L., established in July, amounted to UAH 21.5 million and UAH 14.3 million, respectively.

The largest investments among foreign companies last year were made in Nova Post Poland SP. Z O O – UAH 393 million.

It is specified that many foreign companies have so far shown a loss last year, in particular, the net loss of Nova Post Poland amounted to UAH 157 million.

At the same time, in January 2024, NovaPay distributed dividends for 2023 in the amount of UAH 180 million, of which UAH 175.2 million was paid.

In the report, the group reminded that in July 2022, in order to expand and increase the efficiency of its logistics business and infrastructure, it made capital contributions to KMS LLC, Podol Expo LLC and Nova Place LLC in the amount of UAH 509.1 million, UAH 504 million and UAH 90.4 million, respectively, receiving 85%, 99% and 99% of the shares. “KMS owns logistics terminals in Kyiv, Podol Expo – in Chernihiv and Khmelnytsky, and is also building terminals in Kyiv region.

It is noted that in February 2023, Nova Poshta decided to increase its investment in Podol-Expo by an additional capital contribution of UAH 498.6 million, and in October it increased its investment by an additional capital contribution of UAH 582.8 million.

In addition, in June 2022, the Group contributed UAH 868 million and UAH 1,291 million to the capital of Novobox LLC and Dnipro Development Group LLC, respectively, receiving 99% and 95% stakes. “Novobox operates a network of post offices across Ukraine, while DDG is building logistics terminals in Odesa and Dnipro. In 2023, investments in them, according to the report, amounted to UAH 258.6 million and UAH 172.8 million, respectively.

Finally, in March 2024, Nova Poshta acquired 100% of Nova Development LLC, the successor to Best Logistics Group, which was engaged in the construction and leasing of logistics complexes and was part of the Globus full-cycle development holding, and by May made an advance payment of UAH 151.4 million.

According to the group’s report, payments to 22 key management personnel in 2023 amounted to UAH 533.5 million, which is 2.4 times more than in 2022, when there were 21 representatives.