“Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, posted a net profit of $121 million in the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2025 (July-September 2024), compared to a net loss of $31 million in the same period of FY 2024.
“This indicates a strong dependence of the group’s revenues on the availability of the Black Sea for export operations,” the company said in a quarterly report published on its website on Friday.
According to the report, Kernel’s consolidated revenue in Q1 FY2025 reached $798 million, up 46% year-on-year, amid a low comparative base due to the lack of stable grain export operations in July-September 2023.
At the same time, it is specified that compared to the previous quarter, in July-September 2024, revenue decreased by 19% due to a seasonal decline in sales of edible oils and grain.
“Due to the increase in global prices for grains and oilseeds, the Group recognized a net gain on changes in the fair value of biological assets of $42 million compared to a loss of $10 million recognized in Q1 FY2024,” the report also says.
It is also noted that Kernel’s cost of sales decreased by 18% quarter-on-quarter to $675 million, in particular, shipping and handling costs fell by 38% due to lower sales volumes and lower freight costs and accounted for 15% of the total cost of sales.
“As a result, gross profit for July-September 2024 decreased by 20% year-on-year to $164 million, which is 3.2 times higher than the previous year’s result of $52 million,” the document says.
According to the report, Kernel’s EBITDA in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to $169 million compared to $19 million in the first quarter of 2024.
It is specified that the oilseeds processing segment provided EBITDA of $37 million, which is 37% less than in the previous year, and this decrease was due to both a decrease in edible oil sales and a decrease in profitability.
In the Infrastructure and Trading segment, EBITDA amounted to $53 million, up 9 times year-on-year, mainly due to the inaccessibility of the Black Sea for export operations from Ukraine in the same period last year. This year’s strong performance was driven by profitable grain harvesting and transshipment operations in Ukraine and the availability of deepwater ports, which ensured stable export operations.
The Agriculture segment reported a strong EBITDA of $84 million, a sharp turnaround from a loss of $23 million in 1Q2024, thanks to $42 million from the revaluation of biological assets, supported by the sale of 521 thousand tons of grains and oilseeds in July-September 2024.
“Operating profit before changes in working capital in July-September 2024 increased 2.8 times compared to the same period last year and reached $148 million, reflecting an improvement in the EBITDA structure due to the opening of deepwater ports for export operations,” the document states.
At the same time, changes in working capital resulted in a cash outflow of $56 million in the reporting period, which was mainly due to the seasonal accumulation of inventories amid the ongoing harvesting campaign in Ukraine.
Net cash used in investing activities amounted to USD 20 million, reflecting the purchase of property, plant, and equipment. Following the completion of major investment projects in the previous financial year, the Group shifted its focus to modernizing agricultural machinery and other maintenance activities.
According to the report, net cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2024 amounted to $20 million, including $114 million in proceeds from new borrowings, $83 million in repayments of borrowings, and $11 million in repayments of agricultural land lease obligations.
Kernel’s debt obligations increased by 4% in the first quarter of FY2025 to $1.129 billion, reflecting the use of previously signed credit lines from European and Ukrainian banks to finance working capital, but the company repaid $300 million of Eurobonds in October, and its net debt decreased by 7% to $261 million at the end of September.
“In the first quarter of FY2025, the group’s leverage improved, with net debt to EBITDA falling to 0.5x and interest coverage ratio rising to 10.7x EBITDA before 12-month interest,” the document states.
It is also specified that inventories increased by 76% in the first quarter of FY2025 to $435 million, reflecting the seasonal accumulation of sunflower seeds and grain due to the long harvesting campaign in Ukraine. Inventories included 988 thousand tons of grains (mainly corn, wheat and soybeans), 94 thousand tons of edible oil, 49 thousand tons of sunflower meal and 340 thousand tons of sunflower seeds.
In addition, in October 2024, the company raised a $150 million pre-export credit line from a syndicate of international banks to support export operations and meet working capital needs in the current fiscal year.
Kernel is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil and one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
Kernel’s net profit for FY2023 amounted to $299 million, while the company ended the previous year with a net loss of $41 million. The agricultural holding’s revenue for FY2023 decreased by 35% to $3.455 billion, but EBITDA increased 2.5 times to $544 million.
TAS Dneprovagonmash LLC (DVM, Kamianske, Dnipro region), controlled by businessman Sergiy Tigipko’s TAS Financial and Industrial Group, posted a consolidated net profit of UAH 84.08 million in January-September, up 6% year-on-year.
According to the company’s interim reports, published on Thursday in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its consolidated net income increased by 62.8% to UAH 1.61 billion.
The report notes that the consolidated financial statements include the performance of the car-building company TAS Dniprovagonmash and its subsidiary, the casting manufacturer TAS Steel Plant.
As reported, TAS Dneprovagonmash’s unconsolidated net profit for January-September amounted to UAH 53.86 million, which is 5.4% more than in the same period in 2023, with unconsolidated revenue growing by 76.4% to UAH 1 billion 278 million.
According to the report, the company’s consolidated net income includes revenue from the sale of railcars and rolling stock of UAH 1.245 billion, revenue from the sale of castings and shot of UAH 332.2 million, revenue from the sale of spare parts of UAH 31 million, and revenue from services rendered (almost UAH 1.18 million), including railcar repair.
In the first half of this year, the company’s consolidated profit decreased by almost 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023 to UAH 40.37 million, while consolidated net income increased by 35% to UAH 1.01 billion.
As reported, at the beginning of 2023, TAS Group became a strategic investor in the TransAnt GmbH railcar building joint venture of Austrian Voestalpine and ÖBB Rail Cargo with a 40% stake, and in the spring of 2024 it became the majority owner of TransAnt, increasing its stake to 61%.
This year, the company plans to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction (for the purchase of equipment).
As reported, TAS Dneprovagonmash produced 378 freight cars in 2023 (including for the EU market), which is 34.8% less than in 2022, while sales decreased by 40.6% to 370 units. Non-consolidated revenue decreased by 2.8% to UAH 1 billion 77 million, while net profit increased slightly to UAH 49.2 million.
TAS Group was founded in 1998 by businessman Sergey Tigipko. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
The shareholders of Credit Agricole Bank Ukraine decided to keep all profits generated in Ukraine inside the country, thus increasing the Tier 1 capital, said Vitaliy Kucher, Member of the Management Board and CFO of the bank.
“We have made a political decision, and all the income that the bank earns in Ukraine remains in Ukraine. That is, we do not postpone the distribution of dividends, we distribute them, we increase the Tier 1 capital,” he said at the Association of Ukrainian Banks conference ‘Financial Sector of Ukraine 2024: Results, Challenges, Forecasts’ in Kyiv on Wednesday.
“That is, the money stays here forever to support the economy, to build a sufficient buffer for the development of lending,” Kucher added.
According to him, in case of building an acceptable investment climate and predictable environment, conducting the right regulatory and state policy, “money will flow here (to Ukraine – IF-U).”
The CFO also noted that the group’s central management is actively involved in the subsidiary’s operations, in particular, unlike a number of other foreign banks, he personally visits Ukraine during a full-scale war.
Credit Agricole Bank (formerly Index Bank) was founded in 1993. Its sole shareholder is Credit Agricole S.A. (France). According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, Credit Agricole Bank ranked 10th in terms of total assets (UAH 121.08 billion) among 62 banks operating in the country. The net profit of the financial institution for the first nine months of 2024 amounted to UAH 5.12 billion, and its equity as of October 1 amounted to UAH 14.15 billion.
Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, increased its net profit by 35.1% in January-September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, to EUR75.60 million, according to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to the report, consolidated revenue increased by 12.6% to EUR441.46 million, while gross profit grew by 20.3% to $183.98 million and EBITDA by 12.8% to $131.56 million.
It is indicated that the results of the sugar production segment accounted for 38% of total sales or EUR169 million, which is 19% more than in the same period last year.
According to the report, agriculture accounted for 33% of Astarta’s revenue, or EUR146 million, up 28% year-on-year, while livestock revenue increased by 22% to EUR37 million.
At the same time, sales from soybean processing decreased by 17% year-on-year to EUR77 million.
It was specified that the share of exports is 64% of consolidated revenue, or EUR283 mln, compared to 46% in the first nine months of 2023.
Taking into account the data for the first half of the year, Astarta managed to improve its performance in the third quarter.
As reported, in the first half of 2024, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 13.9% compared to the first half of 2023 to EUR 47.11 million and EBITDA by 11.7% to $85.83 million, while revenue increased by 11.6% to EUR 320.71 million.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In 2023, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
In January-September 2024, Ukraine’s second largest mobile operator, Vodafone Ukraine (VFU), increased its revenue by 13% to UAH 18.05 billion, while reducing its net profit by 23% to UAH 2.92 billion.
According to the company’s official website, OIBDA increased by 6% to UAH 9.55 billion in the first nine months of operation. The OIBDA margin decreased by 4 percentage points to 52.9%.
The company’s investments also decreased by 10% to UAH 3.41 billion compared to the same period last year.
APRU (average monthly revenue from fixed-line voice services per subscriber) increased by 8.9% to UAH 122.4. The operator’s subscriber base increased by 4.7% to 15.9 million customers.
In the first nine months of 2024, Vodafone Ukraine demonstrated business stability and positive growth in key operating and financial indicators, the company said on its official website.
VF Ukraine attributed the 23% decline in net profit to currency fluctuations.
At the same time, the increase in APRU by 8.9% is due to an increase in the use of mobile services, as well as an increase in the number of fixed-line Internet customers to 270 thousand, which is 16% more than in the third quarter of 2023, the company explained.
“Vodafone Ukraine continues to reinvest its profits in telecommunications infrastructure. The company maintains a high investment rate: UAH 3.4 billion was invested in infrastructure in the first nine months of 2024. Since the start of the full-scale war, Vodafone Ukraine has invested a total of UAH 12.66 billion in Ukraine. The priority areas remain the restoration and maintenance, energy resilience of mobile communications facilities and expansion of network capacity,” the company said.
“Vodafone Ukraine is investing in the development of fixed-line Internet access networks based on modern GPON technology. More than 8,000 apartment buildings in 16 cities of Ukraine are already connected to the energy-efficient network. Over the past three years, Vodafone Ukraine has invested UAH 670 million to expand its fixed network by increasing GPON coverage tenfold. The operator is actively building new service areas in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Ivano-Frankivsk. In August this year, the company started building energy-efficient networks in Poltava, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Lutsk, Rivne and Ternopil.
Vodafone Ukraine reminded that for the second consecutive year, Vodafone mobile Internet has been recognized as the fastest in Ukraine according to the results of Speedtest user tests, and the operator received the prestigious Ookla Speedtest Awards.
The company also continues to develop services based on its IoT network. In August, VF Ukraine and Kyivteplocomunenergo signed an agreement to install NB-IoT-enabled meters in Kyiv. NB-IoT technology ensures reliable connectivity even in difficult places such as basements or underground parking lots. Designed specifically for the Internet of Things, this network supports a large number of simultaneous device connections, making it ideal for large-scale urban or large industrial deployments.
In August 2024, Vodafone Ukraine launched new tariff plans as part of the Roaming at Home concept. Ukrainians can use their home tariff in 28 European countries at no additional cost and without activating services.
“This option is especially valuable for volunteers and military personnel traveling abroad for training and remains popular for both tourist and business trips to Europe,” Vodafone Ukraine said.
It is reported that the company managed to increase its subscriber base by 4.7% compared to the third quarter of last year, to 15.9 million customers, as of September 30, 2024, in both the private and corporate segments.
In September, Vodafone Ukraine started offering numbers with a new code – 075. The additional range of numbers has expanded the choice of desired combinations for new and existing customers.
Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies providing a wide range of services, including mobile voice, data, messaging, fixed broadband and cable TV. The company operates in 15 countries and cooperates with mobile networks in 45 countries. As of June 20, 2024, Vodafone provides services to more than 330 million mobile subscribers, 21 million fixed-line subscribers, 17 million TV subscribers, 17 million broadband subscribers, 17 million TV subscribers and connects more than 187 million IoT devices.
“Vodafone Ukraine is a leading Ukrainian telecommunications company providing 3G and 4G broadband, fixed-line and Internet services. The company serves 15.9 million subscribers. Since December 2019, Vodafone Ukraine has been a part of NEQSOL Holding, a diversified group of companies operating in the energy, telecommunications, high-tech and construction sectors.
Dnipro Switch Plant JSC (DnSZ, Dnipro), a major Ukrainian manufacturer of turnouts for mainline railways, doubled its net profit in January-September to UAH 296.6 million compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the company’s financial report on its website, net sales revenue for the period increased by 47.8% to UAH 1 billion 585 million.
From operating activities, the company earned UAH 394.8 million in profit (up 9.4%), and gross profit amounted to almost UAH 607 million (+19.3%).
According to the company’s report for the first half of the year, its net profit increased by 57.7% to UAH 114.3 million in January-June 2023, while net income increased by 13.6% to UAH 641.3 million.
Thus, in the third quarter of 2024, the plant increased its net profit by 2.4 times year-on-year to UAH 182.4 million, while net revenue increased by 85.8% to UAH 943.6 million.
Founded in 1916, DnSZ currently produces various types of turnouts for mainline and industrial transport, subways, and track superstructure elements.
The company has a full production cycle, including its own design bureau.
The plant ended 2023 with a net profit of UAH 510.86 million, up 52% year-on-year in 2022, with revenue up 77% to UAH 1 billion 790 million.
In 2023, the company shipped 410 turnouts, 2.33 thousand frame rails and 1.59 thousand individual crosspieces.
The share of exports was 10.4%, with the main importing countries being: Germany, the Baltic States, Turkey, and Georgia.
The average number of employees at the plant was 606 at the beginning of this year.
