Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

“Agromat” has received more than UAH 52 mln of profit following results of first half of year

Trading and production company Agromat LLC has received UAH 52.9 mln of profit (before tax) following the results of January-June 2023 against UAH 10.6 mln of loss for the same period in 2022.

According to IBI Ratings, the company’s net income in the first half of 2023 amounted to UAH 1.3 bln, which is 72% higher than the result of January-June 2022. In addition, Agromat increased retained earnings to UAH 928.3 mln.

In the sales structure for the first half of the year, ceramic tiles accounted for 92% of sales – 2.5 million square meters, while friezes and sanitary ware accounted for 3.5% and 4.2%, respectively.

According to IBI Ratings, the long-term credit rating of Agromat’s series G interest-bearing bonds was affirmed at “uaA” with a “development” outlook.

The decision on placement of bonds of series G in the amount of UAH 100 mln with a public offering was made by the meeting of participants of the company in 2021. Maturity of the bonds is from September 25, 2024 to September 27, 2024. The raised funds are planned to be used to organize the work of new stores and increase inventory.

Argomat Ltd. was registered in 1993. It manufactures and sells ceramic tiles and sanitary ware.

According to Opendatabot, the co-owners of the company with 28.65% shares each are Sergei Voytenko, Oksana Reva and Anatoly Tadai. 10.05% belongs to Olga Bashota and 4% to Nadezhda Rusheliuk.

Agromat has 27 stores and a wide dealer regional network.

The company’s revenue in 2022 decreased by 23.3% to UAH 2.148 bln, while net profit almost doubled to UAH 70.4 mln compared to UAH 132.5 mln in 2021.

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NBU increased its net profit by 22.2%

The National Bank of Ukraine’s net profit in the second quarter of this year amounted to UAH 17.59 billion, up 22.2% year-on-year, according to the NBU’s report on its website.

According to the report, net interest income almost halved to UAH 10.53 billion from UAH 20.70 billion, but UAH 7.69 billion of profit from transactions with financial instruments at fair value, compared to UAH 4.26 billion of loss in the second quarter of last year, improved the financial result overall.

In the first half of the year, the NBU’s net profit amounted to UAH 43.28 billion, down 37.9% compared to the first half of last year, when this result was largely due to UAH 48.82 billion of profit from operations with financial assets and liabilities in foreign currency and gold, compared to UAH 7.74 billion in the first half of this year.

According to the NBU, its consolidated assets increased by 17.1% to UAH 2.293 trillion in January-June this year. “The change in the volume of assets is primarily the result of a 37% increase in international reserves – to $39.0 billion at the end of the first half of 2023 from $28.5 billion at the end of 2022,” the central bank explained.

He specified that the volume of non-resident securities in its portfolio in the first half of 2023 increased by 23% to UAH 858.5 billion, and the volume of funds and deposits in foreign currency and precious metals almost doubled to UAH 464.4 billion.

At the same time, the lion’s share – almost 98% – of non-resident securities is denominated in US dollars, including 92.8% of US issuers, while at the beginning of the year these figures were 95.3% and 84.0%, respectively.

During the reporting period, the NBU, in particular, got rid of securities denominated in euros, which amounted to 1.5% of the portfolio at the beginning of the year.

At the same time, the NBU notes that the volume of its loan portfolio decreased by 4.7 times to UAH 8.6 billion due to the repayment of long-term debt on operating loans by banks.

As of the end of the first half of 2023, the NBU’s liabilities amounted to UAH 1.921 trillion (83.8% of assets), up 17.8% over the half-year.

In particular, banks’ funds increased by 2.3 times to UAH 203.8 billion, funds of state and other institutions increased almost sixfold to UAH 311 billion, while liabilities on loans received from the IMF decreased by 21.5%, and in August the NBU repaid another SDR98.5 million.

As a result, the NBU’s equity increased by 13% to UAH 371 billion in the first half of 2023, due to the accumulation of this year’s profit.

The NBU indicated that its expenses related to the production of banknotes, coins and other products, administrative expenses, and staff costs in the first half of 2023 remained at the same level as in the corresponding period of 2022 and amounted to UAH 3 billion.

In particular, staff salaries decreased by 7.7% year-on-year to UAH 1.227 billion in the first half of this year, including an 8.9% decrease to UAH 612 million in the second quarter.

At the same time, payments to the management increased by 11.1% to UAH 36.01 million, including 10.5% to UAH 13.54 million for members of the NBU Council.

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lifecell gets UAH 611.5 mln net profit

Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell earned UAH 611.5 million in net profit in April-June 2023, while it ended April-June 2022 with a net loss of UAH 27.4 million.

Parent company Turkcell said in a report on its website on Thursday that lifecell’s revenue rose 36.5 percent to UAH 2 billion 903.1 million in the second quarter.

“Lifecell’s revenue grew by 36.5% year-on-year in local currency, mainly due to ARPU growth, which was supported by price adjustments and increased data consumption,” the company pointed out in a press release.

EBITDA increased by 39.3% to UAH 1 billion 715.1 million, while EBITDA margin increased by 1.2 percentage points to 59.1%. Turkcell attributed this improvement mainly to lower interconnection and electricity costs as a percentage of revenue.

At the same time, the company’s capital expenditures for April-June increased 2.2 times to UAH 1 billion 445.6 million.

According to the report, the base of active lifecell subscribers for this period amounted, as in the previous quarter, to 8.6 million against 8.4 million a year earlier, while the total number of customers increased to 11.1 million from 10.8 million in the previous quarter and 10.2 million a year earlier.

Meanwhile, ARPU (average revenue per user per month) among active users rose 36.1% year over year and 7.7% to 112.7 UAH in the quarter.

“The penetration of lifecell smartphones amounted to 84.6% as of the end of Q2. On average, about 96% of stores were operating daily as of the end of June. On average, about 7.3% of the nearly 9,000 sites were temporarily out of service on a daily basis in Q2,” the report also said.

Turkcell added that lifecell’s current cash reserves are “more than sufficient” to support its operations.

Overall in the first half of the year, lifecell’s revenue grew by 26.1% year-on-year to UAH 5 billion 590.6 million, EBITDA by 31.6% to UAH 3 billion 320.1 million and net profit by 6.2 times to UAH 1 billion 127.2 million. The company also increased capital investments by 52% to UAH 2 billion 83.6 million.

lifecell is the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine. Turkcell is the owner of 100% of lifecell’s shares.

Lifecell’s revenue in the second quarter amounted to 75.3% of Turkcell International’s revenue and 7.6% of the consolidated revenue of Turkcell as a whole.

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“Agroliga” increased net profit by 24.6%

Agroliga Group (Kharkiv Oblast) has generated EUR1.00m of consolidated net profit in January-June 2023, up 24.6% year-on-year.

According to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, its revenue for the first half of the year decreased by 9.4% to EUR24.61 mln.

Due to a smaller increase in the cost of sales, gross profit fell by only 0.7% to EUR3.30m, but distribution costs, which rose by a third to EUR1.54m, led to a 30.0% drop in operating profit to EUR1.44m.

Agroholding notes that its free cash flow at the end of the first half of the year fell to EUR0.20m from EUR2.54m due to a reduction in debt at the end of 2022, while investments fell fivefold year-on-year to EUR0.22m in the reporting period.

The main shareholders of the group are Alexander Berdnik and Irina Poplavskaya with 41.66% stakes each, while another 16.68% of shares are in free float.

As reported, Agroliga Group reported a EUR2.21m net loss in 2022, down from a EUR8.13m net profit a year earlier, due to Russian full-scale aggression. Its revenue rose 18.9% to EUR47.46m.

In its annual report, the agroholding said it operates about 8,000 hectares of land, pressed oil plants with an annual capacity of 42,000 tons, and an oil extraction plant with an annual processing capacity of 100,000 to 180,000 tons of sunflower seeds, which can also produce soybean and rapeseed oil. In addition, the group has completed the construction of energy facilities that operate on a green tariff and ensure waste-free production.

The company employs 332 people as of August 15.

As reported, Agroliga Group earned EUR0.77m in net profit in January-March 2023, up 70.5% year-on-year in January-March 2022. Its revenue for the first quarter increased by 32.4% to EUR12.91m.

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Ukrgasbank’s net profit amounted to UAH 2.9 bln

The profit of the state-owned Ukrgasbank in January-July 223 amounted to UAH 2.9 billion, while the bank ended the same period in 2022 with a net loss of UAH 3.5 billion, according to the financial institution’s website.

According to the release, the bank’s assets as of August 1, 2023, reached UAH 158.6 billion, having increased by UAH 26.4 billion since the beginning of the year (excluding the impact of exchange rate differences).

The bank notes that the total portfolio of customer accounts has increased by UAH 23.5 billion since the beginning of the year to UAH 136.1 billion, including UAH balances increased by UAH 17.9 billion.

The financial institution clarifies that the hryvnia deposit portfolio of customers has almost doubled since the beginning of the year, or by UAH 3 billion to UAH 9.1 billion.

This, in particular, made it possible to increase the portfolio of three-month deposit certificates to more than UAH 11.4 billion.

In addition, Ukrgasbank increased its portfolio of domestic government bonds by almost two-thirds over 7 months – by UAH 14.2 billion to UAH 36.3 billion.

At the same time, the volume of lending was lower: since the beginning of the year, almost UAH 5 billion has been provided, of which UAH 2.8 billion was used to finance the needs of agricultural and food industry enterprises, and another UAH 1.6 billion was attracted in the electricity and trade sectors.

“To support trade, exports and imports, Ukrgasbank, which is a leader in Ukrainian trade finance, has implemented 400 transactions for Ukrainian enterprises worth over UAH 6 billion,” the financial institution added.

According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of July 1, 2023, Ukrgasbank ranked 5th in terms of total assets (UAH 167.97 billion) among 65 banks operating in the country, its net profit for the first half of the year amounted to UAH 2.6 billion.

In the second quarter, the state-owned bank’s network grew by two branches and now includes 219 structural units across the country.

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KSG Agro has increased its profit by 21%

Agroholding KSG Agro posted $1.04 million in net profit in the first half of 2023, up 21.2% from the same period last year.

According to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Tuesday, its EBITDA fell 27% to $1.61 million.

It is stated that KSG Agro’s revenue in January-June this year increased 23% year-on-year to $7.41 million, while gross profit decreased 13% to $1.79 million and operating profit decreased 37% to $0.94 million.

“The group continues to execute its simple strategy of focusing on three winter crops, two spring crops and single breed hogs,” the document notes.

It is specified that in the first half of 2023 KSG Agro exported 4.2 thousand tons of grain crops (wheat, corn, barley) mainly to Asia and Africa within the existing grain corridor through the ports of Odessa and Odessa region.

KSG Agro conducted sunflower sowing on the area of 7.3 thousand hectares at the end of May – beginning of June and during the growing season is engaged in chemical and mechanical tillage with mechanical cultivators and rotary harrows.

“The harvest is in good condition. The sowing campaign went on as planned, without major interruptions due to fighting,” the company said in a statement. According to it, harvesting of winter crops has been completed: barley yield was 3 tons/ha, rape – 2.5 tons/ha, wheat – 5 tons/ha.

The agricultural holding recalled that in June, the Kakhov dam on the Dnieper River was destroyed, which led to flooding of a number of regions downstream and drying up of several irrigation canals upstream. Although the group was partially dependent on water supplies from the canals, these supplies were not essential to the group’s operations. KSG Agro has switched to alternative water sources and does not foresee water shortages in the near future. None of the agro holding companies are located downstream of the dam and have not been affected by flooding.

KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is involved in pig farming, as well as the production, storage, processing and marketing of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares in Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson regions.

According to the agroholding, it is among the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.

Last year KSG Agro, due to the full-scale war started by Russia, ended 2022 with a net loss of $1.68 mln compared to $17.71 mln net profit in 2021, its EBITDA decreased 5.5 times to $1.79 mln, and its revenue decreased by 47.3% to $16.2 mln.

In the first quarter of this year, the agribusiness holding company earned $1.53 million in net income, down 17% from the same period last year. Its EBITDA increased by 23% to $1.87 mln, while revenue grew by 45% to $5.12 mln.

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