In August this year, Ukrainian steelmakers increased steel production by 64.5% year-on-year to 602 thousand tons from 366 thousand tons.
At the same time, Ukraine took 20th place in the ranking of 63 countries that are major global producers of this product, compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
According to Worldsteel, in August 2023, half of the top ten countries, except for Japan, South Korea, Germany, Turkey and Vietnam, recorded an increase in steel production compared to August 2022.
The top ten steel producing countries in August are as follows: China (86.41 million tons, up 3.2% by August 2022), India (11.904 million tons, up 17.4%), Japan (7.146 million tons, down 2.9%), the United States (6.980 million tons, up 1.1%), and the Russian Federation (6.4 million tons, up 8.9%), South Korea (5.583 million tons, down 5.9%), Germany (2.844 million tons, down 1%), Turkey (2.756 million tons, down 2.9%), Brazil (2.719 million tons, down 5.9%) and Vietnam (1.6 million tons, down 0.1%).
Overall, in August this year, steel production increased by 2.2% year-on-year to 152.619 million tons.
For the first eight months of 2023, the top ten steel-producing countries are as follows: China (712.930 million tons, up 2.6%), India (92.209 million tons, up 10.5%), Japan (58.366 million tons, down 3.8%), the United States (53.830 million tons, down 1.9%), and the Russian Federation (50.796 million tons, up 3.9%), South Korea (44.969 million tons, down 2.3%), Germany (24.328 million tons, down 4.2%), Turkey (21.599 million tons, down 12.1%), Brazil (21.335 million tons, down 8.3%), and Iran (19.672 million tons, down 1.1%).
In total, 63 countries produced 1 billion 256.378 million tons of steel in January-August, up 0.2% compared to the same period in 2022.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 4.032 million tons of steel in the first eight months of 2023, which is 22.3% lower than in January-August 2022. The country ranks 23rd in the first eight months of 2023.
As reported, in 2022, the top ten steel-producing countries were as follows: China (1.013 billion tons, down 2.1%), India (124.720 million tons, up 5.5%), Japan (89.235 million tons, -7.4%), the United States (80.715 million tons, -5.9%), and the Russian Federation (71.5 million tons, -7.2%), South Korea (65.865 million tons, -6.5%), Germany (36.849 million tons, -8.4%), Turkey (35.134 million tons, -12.9%), Brazil (33.972 million tons, -5.8%) and Iran (30.593 million tons, +8%).
In 2022, Ukraine ranked 23rd with the production of 6.263 million tons of steel (minus 70.7%).
In total, 64 countries produced 1 billion 831.467 million tons of steel in 2022, which is 4.3% less than in 2021.
In January-June 2023, VUSO Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected UAH 1.188 billion in gross premiums, which is 79.8% more than in the same period of 2022, the rating agency Standard-Rating reported in information on the confirmation of the company’s financial strength rating at the level of “uaAA” on the national scale.
According to the information on the RA website, in particular, revenues from individuals increased by 65.08% to UAH 825.974 million, and from reinsurers – by 47.44% to UAH 12.863 million. Thus, the share of individuals in the insurer’s gross premiums in the first six months of 2023 amounted to 69.50%, and the share of reinsurers amounted to 1.08%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers in the first half of 2023 increased by 7.10% to UAH 93.399 million compared to the same period in 2022. Due to the higher growth rate of gross written premiums compared to insurance payments sent to reinsurers, the reinsurer participation ratio in insurance premiums decreased by 5.34 p.p. to 7.86%.
The company’s net written premiums increased by 90.89% to UAH 1.095 billion, and earned premiums – by 82.25% to UAH 1.031 billion.
VUSO paid UAH 438.689 million to its clients in the first half of 2023, which is 99.34% higher than the volume of insurance payments and reimbursements for the same period in 2022. Thus, the level of payments increased by 3.61 percentage points to 36.91%.
In the first six months of 2023, despite a negative result from operating activities of UAH 9.6 million, the company received a net profit of UAH 1.580 million.
As of the reporting date, the company’s assets increased by 52.38% to UAH 1.544 billion, equity showed an increase of 51.42% to UAH 575.652 million, liabilities increased by 52.95% to UAH 978.531 million, cash and cash equivalents increased by 4.60% to UAH 458.628 million.
The RA also notes that as of the beginning of the second half of 2023, the company has formed a portfolio of investments in domestic government bonds in the amount of UAH 163.740 million, which increased the level of provision of the insurer with liquid assets, which together covered 63.60% of the company’s liabilities.
In addition, the balance of funds in the insurer’s centralized insurance reserve funds (MTIBU) amounted to UAH 257.517 million, including UAH 192.244 million of additional guarantee premiums, which had a positive impact on the company’s liquidity.
VUSO Insurance Company was founded in 2001. The company holds 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory types of insurance, and is represented in all regions of Ukraine. It is a member of MTIBU and USIF, a participant of the Direct Claims Settlement Agreement and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
Finod LLC, which was engaged in currency exchange and recently lost all its licenses by the decision of the National Bank (NBU), was the largest financial company in Ukraine in terms of revenue – UAH 2 billion 115 million at the end of the first half of 2023.
According to data on the NBU website, in the first quarter the leader was payment system Novapay with UAH 1 billion 666 million in revenue, but its data is missing in the table for the half-year, while the table for the first quarter did not include Finod’s data.
The next three companies, as well as in the first quarter, were formed by microcredit providers Ukr Credit Finance LLC (CreditKasa TM), 1 Safe Agency for Necessary Loans LLC (MyCredit TM) and Investrum (ZeCredit, BananaCredit TM), whose revenue amounted from UAH 1.16 billion to UAH 0.86 billion.
At the same time, “Ukr Credit Finance” increased its revenue in the second quarter compared to the first quarter by almost 1.5 times, strengthening its position, while “1 Safe Credit Agency” by 28%, and FC “Investrum” – by 5%.
“Investrum” of the market leaders has the lowest labor costs – only UAH 10.8 mln, as well as close to zero profit.
Six more companies operating in the microcredit market, as well as the network of payment terminals of FC “Kontraktovy Dom” (TM “Easypay”) follow with rather close indicators of revenue – from UAH 651.6 mln to UAH 516.0 mln.
In particular, we are talking about LLC “Maniveo Fast Financial Assistance” (Moneyveo), which reported the highest salary expenses among competitors, FC “E Groshi Kom”, “Aventus Ukraine” (TM CreditPlus), , LLC “Miloan” – UAH 617.47 million and “Lineura Ukraine” (TM “Credit7”) and “Consumer Center” (TM “ShvidkoGroshi”).
The largest in terms of assets and profit in the first half of the year was state-owned PJSC Ukrfinzhytlo, capitalized at the end of last year at the expense of government bonds – UAH 55.5bn and UAH 3.3bn, respectively.
The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has upgraded the VR of ProCredit Bank (Kyiv) from ‘cc’ to ‘ccc-‘ and affirmed its Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘CCC-‘ and its Long-Term Local-Currency IDR at ‘CCC’.
“The upgrade reflects our view of ProCredit Bank’s moderately lower risk of failure, driven by stronger asset quality and profitability due to a less severe operating environment than previously expected,” the agency said in a statement on its website on Friday.
It added that the affirmation of the national long-term rating at ‘AA(ukr)’ with a ‘Stable’ outlook reflects the bank’s continued creditworthiness in the local currency relative to other Ukrainian issuers.
Fitch noted that ProCredit Bank’s IDRs are backed by the support of its parent ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA (‘BBB/Stable Outlook’/bbb).
The agency added that the ‘ccc-‘ shareholder support rating reflects the view of the strategic importance of the Ukrainian bank for the holding, as well as potential limitations on the bank’s ability to use the parent company’s support, in particular, to service foreign currency liabilities.
It is noted that a default on priority foreign currency liabilities remains a real possibility due to the war, however, the bank maintains generally adequate foreign currency liquidity compared to its needs, which is facilitated by various capital and currency control measures introduced since the beginning of the war.
According to Fitch, ProCredit Bank will continue to service its external obligations: at the end of the first quarter of 2023, its external debt stood at a moderate 10% of total funding, consisting of EUR20 million of subordinated bonds and funding from international financial institutions.
The agency noted that the gradual improvement in the operating environment for Ukrainian banks has resulted in a more resilient loan portfolio quality for ProCredit Bank, as well as higher revenues and profitability than previously expected. As a result, although capital risks remain very high, Fitch believes that the bank is now less likely to face a material capital shortfall.
The agency recalled that ProCredit Bank’s asset quality indicators deteriorated sharply after the outbreak of the war, resulting in significant provisioning charges (3.4 times operating profit in 2022). “Risks to asset quality remain elevated and dependent on the outcome of the war, despite an improved operating environment in the first quarter of 2023,” Fitch stated.
It added that the bank earned UAH 211 million in net profit in the first quarter of this year after a net loss of UAH 1.8 billion in 2022, and expects an improvement in provisioning.
It is noted that the bank managed to increase its core capital ratio from 9.6% to 11.7% in the first quarter, but it remains modest.
ProCredit Bank was ranked 15th among 65 operating banks in Ukraine in terms of total assets (UAH 39.21 billion) at the beginning of June. Its net profit for the five-month period amounted to UAH 384.43 million.
June 23 the Rating Committee of National Rating Agency “Rurik” has withdrawn the ratings of PrJSC IC “Grandvis” (Chernihiv), according to the website of RA.
The report explains that the rating is withdrawn due to the fact that the borrower fails to provide the necessary information to update the rating or for other reasons.
As earlier reported, on March 7, 2023 RA “Rurik” has confirmed a long-term credit rating of the borrower at the level uaAА of investment category with the “in development” outlook.
Analyzing the results of the company’s activity in 2022, the agency considered as positive the high indices of the company’s liquidity. Thus, the ratio of quick liquidity as of January 1, 2023 amounted to 952% while the recommended 60%. Also the RA noted a high margin of solvency of asset quality, a sufficient level of financial autonomy of the insurer, since the coverage level of assets and insurance reserves by shareholders’ equity amounted to 85% and 1109%, respectively.
The negative factors include low diversification of the company’s insurance portfolio by types of insurance. According to the results of 2022 three largest types of insurance corresponded to 81% of insurance payments, which, as stated, indicates a high dependence of the company on the key areas of insurance activity, its significant costs, given a high specific weight of administrative expenses.
IC Grandvis has been working in insurance market since 1995. It specializes on risk kinds of insurance.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 14,3 m.
On June 21, 2023 Rating Committee of Expert-Rating RA has decided to withdraw the financial stability (reliability) rating of the insurer Alfa Insurance PJSC (Kyiv), according to the website of RA.
As it was reported, the rating committee of RA “Expert-Rating” has decided on December 23, 2022 to suspend the rating of the company, noting that it may be restored if the license of the company has been renewed.
Earlier, on December, 5 of 2022, the National Bank of Ukraine has applied to PrJSC IC “Alfa Insurance” a measure of influence in the form of temporary suspension of the license to provide financial services.
The NBU also noted that these measures were applied in connection with the company’s non-compliance with the requirements of the Regulation on licensing and registration of financial service providers and the conditions of their activities to provide financial services …, namely the requirements for business reputation of financial service providers. The company must eliminate the violations by December 5, 2023.
Later, the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine reported on its website that due to the temporary suspension of IC “Alfa Insurance” license for compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of vehicles (MTPL), it lost the right to enter into new contracts.
As it was reported, IC “Alfa Insurance” was founded in 2000. It offers a universal portfolio of services, including comprehensive programs for protection of business interests and a wide range of insurance products for individuals
