Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 13.9% in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023 to EUR47.11 million, according to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to the report, consolidated revenue increased by 11.6% to EUR320.71 million, while gross profit grew by 0.5% to $126.63 million and EBITDA decreased by 11.7% to $85.83 million.
“The EBITDA margin was 27%, down 7 p.p. (percentage points) year-on-year due to falling prices and higher SG&A expenses,” the report states.
Taking into account the data for the first quarter, Astarta managed to improve its performance in the second quarter. As reported, in the first quarter of 2024, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 44.1% to EUR9.02 million, EBITDA by 24.5% to $28.62 million, and its consolidated revenue increased by 1.4% to EUR165.78 million.
It is noted that the main growth factor in the first half of the year was sugar production, which accounted for 40% of total revenue, or EUR128 million (+48% compared to last year), followed by crop production with 31%, or EUR99 million (-2% compared to last year). Soybean processing accounted for 18% of Astarta’s consolidated revenue, or EUR58 million (-18% y-o-y), while livestock production accounted for 8%, or EUR25 million (+20% y-o-y).
It is indicated that export sales increased to 67% of consolidated revenue or EUR215 million in the first half of this year against 55% in the first half of last year.
The main contribution to EBITDA was made by crop production – EUR44.26 million against EUR43.68 million in the first half of last year, while the sugar segment’s EBITDA fell to EUR12.20 million from EUR24.10 million a year earlier.
In livestock, EBITDA increased to EUR 14.55 million from EUR 9.48 million in the first quarter of last year, while in soybean processing it decreased to EUR 16.45 million from EUR 20.11 million.
It is noted that the operating cash flow increased by 67.7% to EUR116.4 mln in six months due to lower inventories.
Investments increased 2.1 times to EUR20.19 million, mainly in crop and sugar production.
Over the year, Astarta’s net debt decreased from EUR131.55 million to EUR95.86 million, and free cash flow increased from EUR20.96 million to EUR72.84 million.
It is noted that the abnormally hot weather without rain forced the agricultural holding to accelerate the harvesting of winter crops. Less favorable weather conditions also led to lower yields in 2024, however, in the western regions of the country there was more precipitation, winter crops yields were higher, and overall yields were higher than the average for Ukraine.
The gross harvest of winter wheat amounted to 5.3 t/ha (-16% y-o-y), which means a harvest of 260 thsd tonnes (-4% y-o-y). Rapeseed yields averaged 3.4 t/ha (-17% y/y), with a harvest of 40 thou tons (-29% y/y). Harvesting of late crops for 2024 is ongoing. Sowing of winter rapeseed for the 2025 harvest started in mid-August. The planned sowing area is 20 thou hectares compared to 12 thou hectares last year.
“Astarta reminded that this year’s corn acreage decreased three times compared to last year, to 6 thou hectares, and sunflower acreage decreased by 34%, to 18 thou hectares. At the same time, the area under soybeans increased by 27% to 70 thou hectares to maximize the supply of its own products for soybean processing, Astarta said.
The company added that the area under sugar beet remained virtually unchanged and amounted to 38 thou hectares (-1% y-o-y), while the area under organic crops remained at the same level – about 2 thou hectares.
“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.
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 40.37 million in January-June, down almost 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the company’s interim report, published on Thursday in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its consolidated net income increased by 35% to UAH 1.01 billion.
The report notes that the consolidated financial statements include the performance indicators of the car-building company TAS Dneprovagonmash LLC and its subsidiary, the casting manufacturer TAS Steel Plant LLC.
As reported, in the first half of the year, TAS Dneprovagonmash’s unconsolidated net profit amounted to UAH 18.85 million, three times less than a year earlier, while unconsolidated revenue grew by 37.8% to UAH 796.47 million.
According to the report, the company’s consolidated net income includes revenue from railcar sales of UAH 773.87 million (56% more than in January-June 2023), revenue from sales of castings and shot of UAH 213.7 million (25.7% more), revenue from sales of spare parts of UAH 21.2 million (35% more) and services rendered (almost UAH 1 million), including railcar repairs.
As reported, in early 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%.
According to the company, in the second quarter of 2024, it shipped platform cars for the EU market as part of the project.
This year, the company plans to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction (for the purchase of equipment).
In early August 2024, the company announced on its website the acceptance of 1.5 thousand different railcars by an international company without disclosing details, and on August 20, it announced a contract with the logistics company Balk Trans for the supply of 100 grain cars.
As reported, in 2023, TAS Dneprovagonmash produced 378 freight cars (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.
In January-June this year, Ukrainian banks increased their net profit by UAH 11.4 billion, or 16.8% compared to the same period in 2023, to UAH 79.04 billion, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported.
“The main factors of profitability are the maintenance of a high net interest margin and almost zero allocations to provisions for losses from active operations,” the NBU explained the reasons for the increase in profitability.
“In the first half of the year, only seven small banks out of 62 solvent banks were unprofitable with a total loss of UAH 171 million,” the NBU said.
According to the NBU, the profitability of banks’ core assets continued to decline in the second quarter. In particular, it fell most rapidly for NBU certificates of deposit, which led banks to reduce their investments in these securities, the regulator said.
At the same time, interest rates on domestic government bonds (OVDPs) also went down, but the volume of investments in them grew.
“It is due to the increase in assets that banks have maintained a fairly high net interest margin and increased revenues,” the regulator emphasized.
It is noted that the return on equity of banks in the first half of 2024 amounted to 48.4%, which is lower than the same indicator in the first half of 2023, which was 56%.
The amount of income tax accrued by banks in the first six months of this year amounted to UAH 21.9 billion, compared to UAH 12.4 billion in the same period last year, as the income tax rate was increased from 18% to 25%.
According to the NBU, the banking system’s net profit last year amounted to UAH 82.8 billion after charging UAH 76.2 billion in income tax at the increased rate of 50%.
In January-June this year, FUIB (Kyiv) received UAH 3.82 billion in net profit, which is 4% higher than in the same period of 2023 (UAH 3.68 billion), according to the bank’s quarterly report.
According to the report, the financial institution’s net profit for the second quarter of 2024 decreased by 20.8% compared to the comparable period of 2023 (UAH 2.13 billion) to UAH 1.69 billion.
According to the document, the bank’s net interest income for the first half of the year increased by 31.7% to UAH 7.12 billion, while net commission income increased by 15.1% to UAH 1.23 billion. In particular, these figures improved by 23.6% to UAH 3.56 billion and 43.2% to UAH 0.71 billion in April-June, respectively.
Since the beginning of 2024, the bank’s assets have increased by 6.3%, or by UAH 9.67 billion, and reached UAH 163 billion as of June 30, compared to UAH 125.7 billion at the end of the first half of 2023. This increase was primarily due to the growth of loans and advances to customers from UAH 52.06 billion to UAH 57 billion, in particular, by UAH 3.19 billion in the second quarter of 2024.
Since the beginning of the year, FUIB has increased cash on hand and in transit, as well as funds on the current account with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) by 29.6% and 41.2%, respectively, to UAH 3.74 billion and UAH 14.11 billion.
Funds under the item “other financial assets” increased 1.6 times to UAH 4.19 billion in the structure of total assets, which, in turn, was facilitated by more active purchases of foreign currency and an increase in bank card payments.
The volume of loans and advances to banks increased by 15.5% to UAH 4.87 billion, while investments in securities increased by 1.7% to UAH 59.16 billion.
Between January and June, the financial institution managed to increase its customer accounts from UAH 126.54 billion to UAH 132.93 billion, while the funds of banks increased from UAH 2.72 billion to UAH 3.33 billion.
In general, FUIB’s liabilities for this period increased from UAH 135.94 billion to UAH 141.22 billion.
It is noted that the bank’s capital increased by 25.3% over the six months of this year and reached UAH 21.78 billion, in particular, in the second quarter – by 11.3%, or UAH 2.22 billion. It is noted that retained earnings increased by 46.5% to UAH 11.41 billion during this time.
The remuneration of 10 members of the bank’s management board in terms of salary for the first half of 2024 increased by 12.1% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to UAH 75.6 million, while the remuneration of eight members of the supervisory board increased by 46.7% to UAH 16.6 million.
JSC First Ukrainian International Bank was founded on November 20, 1991 and started its operations in April 1992. As of March 31, 2024, the bank’s shareholders were SCM Finance (92.3%) and SCM Holdings Limited (7.7%, Cyprus) of Rinat Akhmetov.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of June 1, 2024, FUIB ranked 6th (UAH 169.9 billion) among 63 banks in the country in terms of assets. The financial institution’s net profit for 2023 amounted to UAH 3.96 billion.
PrJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), posted a net profit of UAH 61.6 million in January-June 2024.
According to Yegor Perelygin, interim chairman of the board of UMCC, on Facebook, EBITDA in this period amounted to UAH 139.8 million.
At the same time, sales of finished products in monetary terms increased by 39.1%. The Group sold nearly 70 thousand tons of main concentrates, which is 20 thousand tons more than in the same period last year. The Group paid UAH 211 million in taxes.
“We started the second half of the year very actively and energetically. I can say that, despite all the problems, Vilnohirsk Mining has a normal operating perspective until 2030. We have enough reserves for the economically viable operation of the plant,” said the CEO.
There are several options and scenarios for further developments after 2030, and UMCC is working on them, he added. He clarified that mining operations at Irshansky GOK were fully resumed in the second half of 2024, and two open pits are operating steadily. SOE also said that the nameplate capacity of Irshansk GOK is 2.5 million cubic meters of production.
“Having an understanding of our balance sheet reserves, we see at least 15 years of prospects at a capacity of 180-200 thousand tons per year (after all the reconstructions, this is the real passport capacity of ‘finishing’, i.e., final products). Also, don’t forget that we still have the Selyshchanska area and off-balance sheet resources,” explained the acting Chairman of the Board.
“I’ll be blunt: we have a good understanding of the future development of the entire Irshansk resource base within a time horizon of 27 years at Irshansk GOK (and even more!!!). We are calmly moving forward,” the CEO summarized.
As reported, in the first quarter of 2024, UMCC received UAH 30 million of net profit, while in the same period last year there was a loss.
UMCC started its actual operations in August 2014 after the property complexes of Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant were transferred to its management by the Cabinet of Ministers. On December 8, 2016, the state-owned enterprise was transformed into PJSC UMCC, and on December 26, 2018, it was transformed from PJSC to PrJSC.
UMCC used to sell its products to more than 30 countries. The main sales markets were the EU, China, Turkey, as well as the USA and African countries.
Ukraine has scheduled the auction of a 100% stake in UMCC for October 9, 2024, via Prozorro.Sale. The starting sale price is UAH 3 billion 899.358 million.
TAS-Dniprovagonmash LLC (DVM, Kamianske, Dnipro region), a major Ukrainian railcar manufacturer controlled by businessman Sergiy Tigipko’s TAS Financial and Industrial Group, ended January-June 2024 with a net profit of UAH 18.85 million, three times less than in the same period in 2023.
According to the company’s interim reports, published on Tuesday in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its net income in the first half of the year increased by 37.8% to UAH 796.47 million.
The company reduced its gross profit by 3% to UAH 78.4 million, earning UAH 26.44 million in operating profit (2.2 times less).
As reported, in the first quarter of this year, TAS Dneprovagonmash reduced its net profit by 5.2 times compared to the same period in 2023, to UAH 7.17 million, with a 4.4% decrease in revenue to UAH 379.24 million.
Thus, in the second quarter of 2014, the company reduced its net profit by 44% year-on-year to UAH 11.68 million, while net revenue increased by 30.4% to UAH 417.22 million.
In April-June, the plant’s production capacity was utilized by 22%, and the equipment utilization rate was 26%,
The report notes that in the second quarter of 2024, the plant produced 140 freight cars (177 units in the first quarter), which accounted for 23% of the total Ukrainian production (28% in the first quarter). Its main competitors include Kryukiv Carriage Works, Karpaty Railcar Plant, and Ukrzaliznytsia plants.
The average selling price of a freight car is UAH 2.215 million. Key customers: “TAS Poltavagon, MTB Bank, TAS Logistic, and Tecom Leasing.
According to the company, exports for this period amounted to UAH 3.4 million (0.8% of sales in the second quarter).
As noted in the report, TAS Dneprovagonmash’s annual budget for 2024 provides for the supply of 26 units of products to the European market.
“In the second quarter of 2024, the freight base of railway logistics in Ukraine showed an upward trend – +2%, or +0.9 million tons, compared to the first quarter of 2024 and +27.3%, or +9.8 million tons, compared to the same period in 2023. This, in turn, contributed to an increase in demand for newly built freight cars,” the statement said.
At the same time, the company continues to note the presence of factors restraining the dynamics of car building, in particular massive shelling, the abolition of restrictions on the maximum service life of cars in 2021, and an increase in the rolling stock turnover due to the lack of traction rolling stock at Ukrzaliznytsia.
“However, in general, in the second quarter, the production of freight rolling stock by Ukrainian enterprises tended to grow. The work of the Ukrainian Corridor (transport – IF-U), namely the Black Sea routes, remains a key factor in the growth of cargo turnover and the formation of demand for freight cars,” the document states.
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%.
According to the company, in the second quarter of 2024, it shipped platform cars as part of the project.
This year, the company intends to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction (for the purchase of equipment).
As reported, the company 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. 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 Tigipko. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
