PJSC Ukrtelecom whose 92.79% stake belongs to LLC ESU, which is controlled by Rinat Akhmetov’s System Capital Management (SCM), will not pay dividends for 2017. “It was decided that the profit the company generated last year will be used to cover losses accumulated over previous periods,” Ukrtelecom’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
In addition, shareholders re-elected the supervisory board together with its head, Leonid Netudykhata, who once headed the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, was Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, and worked as Chairman of Ukrtelecom’s Board of Directors in 1997-2000.
“The shareholders confirmed the top managers’ course towards further modernization of the company and an increase in the share of revenue from new IP services,” the press service said.
As reported, PJSC Ukrtelecom completed 2017 with a net profit of UAH 867 million, which was 44.3% more than in 2016. The operator’s net income over the year increased by 1.7%, to UAH 6.654 billion.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 4.9%, to UAH 1.867 million, EBITDA margin rose by 1.8 percentage points, to 28.1%. The company’s capital investment decreased by 0.7%, to UAH 948 million.
PJSC Dnipro Coke and Chemical Plant (Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk region) received a net profit of UAH 1.193 billion in 2017, compared to a net loss of UAH 273.26 million in 2016. According to the company’s official information to the agenda of a meeting of stockholders scheduled for May 14, last year the company’s undistributed profit amounted to UAH 1.391 billion.
The total amount of accounts receivable grew by 30.6 times last year, to UAH 2.806 billion, long-term liabilities by 35.4%, to UAH 124.146 million, and current liabilities by 3.9 times, to UAH 8.287 billion.
The value of assets in 2017 grew by 3.8 times, to UAH 9.973 billion, whereas the value of fixed assets shrank by 8.5%, to UAH 300.94 million.
As reported, Evraz-Dniprodzerzhynsk Coke and Chemical Plant at a stockholders meeting on September 18, 2017 changed its name to Dnipro Coke and Chemical Plant and was restructured from a public into private joint-stock company.
State-owned enterprise Ukrenergo saw a 42% fall in net profit in 2017 (by UAH 1.264 billion) compared with 2016, to UAH 1.748 billion.
According to a company financial report, net revenue last year rose by 15.2% or UAH 1.09 billion, to UAH 8.264 billion, and gross profit grew by 17% or UAH 849.257 million, to UAH 5.838 billion.
As reported, national energy company Ukrenergo in 2017 increased transmission of electricity through the backbone power grids by 2.4% (by 2.616 billion kWh) compared to 2016, to 113.837 billion kWh. The cost of electricity transmission services rose by 13.7% in 2017 (by UAH 965.217 million), to UAH 8.022 billion.
Ukrenergo operates trunk and interstate power grids, as well as performs the centralized dispatching of the united energy system in the country. The company is a state-owned enterprise, it is subordinate to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, but by the end of 2018 the company is to be reorganized into a private joint-stock company.
Private joint-stock company Ingosstrakh (Dnipro) saw UAH 378.2 million of net profit in 2017 (some 5-fold rise year-over-year).
According to a financial report of the company posted in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, last year Ingosstrakh collected net insurance premiums worth UAH 737.856 million, which is 41.5% less than a year ago. Some UAH 77.42 million was sent to reinsurance, which is 2.4 times more than a year ago and UAH 193.5 million of payments in claims were made (82.2% down).
Administrative costs were UAH 22 million, while a year ago they stood at UAH 6 million.
Ingosstrakh was registered in 2004. Its core business is provision of risk insurance services.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, wants to keep EUR 61.84 million in net profit for the financial year 2017 undistributed. This decision is on the agenda of a meeting of the holding’s shareholders scheduled for May 25.
In addition, the shareholders will consider the re-appointment of Viktor Ivanchyk, Viktor Hladky and Marc Van Campen as board members, along with the appointment of Gilles Mettetal as non-executive director and resignation of Vladyslav Bartoshevsky as non-executive director and deputy chairman of the board of directors.
Another issue on the agenda is the appointment of Zeljko Erceg as Chief Operating Officer of Astarta Kyiv LLC. He will temporarily head the company in case the entire board is temporarily unable to perform duties.
In addition, the shareholders may decide on the prolongation of the buyback program for another 18 months (from the date of the shareholders’ meeting). The company can buy out no more than 2.5 million shares at a price not higher than PLN125 per share.
The agenda also includes the issue of authorizing the board of directors to organize the issue of shares to the amount of up to 10% of current issued and paid-in share capital, as well as the restriction or cancellation of any existing pre-emption rights in shares. All actions are carried out within one year, starting from the date of the annual meeting of shareholders whose permission cannot be withdrawn.
Ukrproduct Group, a large Ukrainian producer of packaged butter, processed cheese and kvass, expects operating profit of about UAH 16.2 million (GBP500,000) in 2017 compared to an operating loss of approximately UAH 7.4 million (GBP200,000) in 2016. “The Ukrainian dairy foods and beverage producer is guiding for revenue of around GBP31 million for 2017, which would be a strong increase on the GBP20.2 million posted in 2016. Operationally, Ukrproduct expects a profit of approximately GBP500,000 after an operating loss of GBP200,000 in 2016, which will boost earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization,” reads a report by Ukrproduct on the website of the London Stock Exchange.
“Despite these improvements, the company is expecting an overall loss due to the negative impact of foreign exchange,” it states.
According to a press release, by the end of 2017 Ukrproduct estimated its net liabilities at UAH 429 million with free cash stocks of UAH 18.7 million. However, after the end of the financial year, the financial situation of the group improved after a new loan agreement for UAH 65 million with Creditwest Bank and the subsequent full repayment of the loan from OTP Bank.
Ukrproduct notes that in 2017 the Ukrainian economy demonstrated the encouraging GDP growth, while wage growth led to an increase in consumer confidence, which improved the trading capacity of the group within the country, despite the continuing competition in the market. In addition, the weakening of the hryvnia provided Ukrproduct with additional opportunities for business development in export markets, the report says.
