The revenue of Arricano Real Estate Plc (Cyprus), a management company and developer of a number of shopping and entertainment centers (SECs) in Ukraine, for January-June 2022 amounted to $13.2 million, which is 22% less than the results of the first half of 2021.
According to unaudited interim results for the six months of 2022, published on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, the group’s operating profit from core activities before revaluation of investment property decreased by 27% compared to the first half of 2021 to $8.7 million.
As of June 30, 2022, the average occupancy rate was 98.4% (2021: 99.5%).
“Our operations have been drastically affected by Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. During four of the six months reviewed, the team and tenants operate under extremely stressful conditions, in which dedication, self-sacrifice and unconditional faith in our people and country are required to continue effective operations. Thanks to their often heroic efforts, we were able to continue our business during the first months of the crisis and are now well positioned to resume growth after the end of the war and to focus on our long-term goals,” Arricano CEO Anna Chubotina was quoted in the report as saying.
The revaluation of the investment property portfolio resulted in a loss of $91.1 million due to the multiple negative financial impact of the Russian invasion (for the first half of 2021 – $9 million).
The total value of the investment property portfolio decreased to $231.1 million, down 28.7% from the December 31, 2021 value of $323.9 million.
As of June 30, 2022, operating cash flow was $8.0 million, with the group’s cash balance of $12.6 million (December 31, 2021: $8.5 million).
Net asset value almost halved to $83.2 million as of June 30 from $163.8 million as of December 31, reflecting a portfolio revaluation.
According to the report, the number of visitors to the mall after the Russian invasion of Ukraine initially fell sharply. However, as the threat to Kyiv has receded, traffic has begun to recover, reflecting the return of people who migrated to safer parts of the country at the start of the war to their homes.
“We continue to see a positive trend of increasing monthly visitor numbers, which in turn has contributed to a partial resumption of sales and cash flow. The war has a significant impact on consumer behavior, resulting in a combination of reduced purchasing power and reduced consumer confidence, and this, in turn, turn, contributes to a reduction in sales. Compared to the same period last year, there was a decrease in revenue by 22%, but a positive trend has been observed since the end of the first half of the year,” Chubotin is quoted in the report.
Despite the events of the first half of the year, Arricano opened 19 new stores and establishments across the portfolio of shopping centers, including a mix of local and international brands: Ukrzoloto, Anabel Arto, Brand Shop, BraBraBra, Zolota Krajina, Provocator, Diverse, Yabloki, ODH , Sushi take out, Doner Market and Greek House. The total area of the opened stores is 988 sq. m. m.
As noted in the message, Arricano’s business is stable and trading activity has improved since the second half of the year.
“Given the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is difficult to predict the future; however, the company is well positioned to recover to previous levels after the end of the war. Until that time, Arricano will continue to support all of its tenants, teams and the mall community,” Chubotina assured.
Arricano Real Estate Plc specializes in the construction of shopping and entertainment centers and is one of the leading developers in the Ukrainian real estate market. Owns and manages five shopping centers in the country with a total area of 147.6 thousand square meters. m: “RayON” and “Prospect” in Kyiv, “Solar Gallery” in Krivoy Rog, City Mall in Zaporozhye. The company also owns 49.9% in the Sky Mall (Kyiv) and land plots for the further construction of three facilities that are at the design stage. The company is also building the Kyiv SEC Lukianivka.
As of September-2022, the shareholders of Arricano Real Estate Plc are Retail Real Estate O.U. together with Dragon Capital Investments Limited, Deltamax Group O.U., Yuri Pold and Rauno Teder. The total stake in Teder is 70.86%.
The mobile operator “Vodafone Ukraine”, which is part of NEQSOL Holding (Azerbaijan), in January-June 2022 reached a revenue figure of UAH 9.916 billion, which is 3% more than in the same period of 2021 (9 .64 billion UAH) .
According to the operator’s financial report, its net profit for the specified period amounted to UAH 663 million (UAH 2.1 billion for the same period last year).
OIBDA exceeded UAH 5.76 billion. OIBDA margin increased by 2.1 p.p. up to 58.1%.
As emphasized in the message of the operator, emergency work on the network and its restoration, assistance to the country and customers, and mass migration of customers abroad have significantly affected the dynamics of key financial indicators.
The growth of part of the financial indicators in the first half of 2022 was achieved due to the successful results of the first two months of the year.
The operator’s capital investments in the first half of the year amounted to UAH 1.276 billion, which is 14% less compared to the same period last year.
“As of today, all elements of the core network are operating normally, Vodafone Ukraine has taken all the necessary steps to quickly switch to a backup scenario. The Vodafone Ukraine team is actively working to restore damage: about 87% of the network is working and this figure is growing “All critical elements of the technical and IT infrastructure have already been diversified. The approximate amount of asset losses is about UAH 806 million,” the company stressed.
Mass migration due to the war also significantly affected the size of the subscriber base – as of the end of July, the operator’s subscriber base amounted to 16.6 million customers, of which 1.76 million were forced to stay outside the country.
In addition, as of the end of July 2022, the company connected free services in the amount of UAH 270 million for 13 million customers in Ukraine. And abroad – in the amount of UAH 596 million for 1.5 million subscribers in 32 countries.
The operator also purchased 10 ambulances for the amount of UAH 23 million.
The volume of humanitarian and direct financial assistance of the company to the country is currently estimated at UAH 250 million.
In 2019, NEQSOL Holding, through Telco Solutions and Investments LLC, controlled by Bakcell, signed an agreement with MTS PJSC on the purchase of its telecommunications business in Ukraine. The deal for the purchase of Vodafone Ukraine was closed at the end of December 2019 with funding from J.P. Morgan and RBI, the price was $734 million, including a deferred payment of about $84 million.
The NEQSOL Holding group of companies, according to the release, has more than 25 years of experience in various industries and countries. Its activities cover oil and gas, telecommunications, construction and other high-tech industries in the UK, USA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, UAE, Bangladesh. The group entered the telecommunications industry in the early 2000s. The companies included in it provide mobile communication services, international transit and wholesale Internet sales, leased line services, data center services, etc.
Businessman Nasib Hasanov is the official founder and 100% owner of the NEQSOL Holding group, including Nobel Oil Services (UK) Limited, Nobel Oil E&P (UK) Limited (trade name Nobel Upstream), Bakcell LLC and Norm OJSC.
In January-June 2022, Ukraine increased its revenue from electricity exports by 1.6 times (by $61.76 million) compared to the same period in 2021, to $169.998 million, according to the State Customs Service.
According to Interfax-Ukraine estimates, over six months electricity was supplied to Slovakia for $48.968 million, Poland for $46.649 million, Hungary for $40.408 million, and other countries for $33.973 million.
In June this year, electricity export revenue amounted to $18.579 million compared to $30.263 million in June 2021.
In addition, Ukraine in January-June 2022 imported electricity for $102.115 million versus $58.598 million for the same period last year. In particular, from Belarus for $100.414 million, Slovakia for $0.873 million, Romania for $0.491 million, and other countries for $0.337 million.
In June this year, Ukraine imported electricity for $0.001 million versus $1.943 million in June 2021.
The VEON international telecommunications holding, which is the parent company of the Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar, recorded a 10.8% increase in revenue in Ukraine in national currency over the first five months of 2022.
According to a VEON press release published by PRNewswire on June 29, 2022, EBITDA decreased by 0.2% in five months (in local currency).
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian telecommunications operator. It provides communication and data transmission services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G.
Kyivstar’s shareholder is the international group VEON (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.). The group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ (New York) stock exchange.
The mobile network operator Kyivstar in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased its total revenue by 12.5% year-over-year, to UAH 7.537 billion, according to the company’s website.
According to the published data, for the specified period, Kyivstar increased EBITDA by 8.7% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 4.839 billion. At the same time, the EBITDA margin fell by 2.3 percentage points (pp), to 64.2%.
Total operating income grew by 12.3%, to UAH 6.993 billion.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the use of mobile Internet per subscriber increased by an average of 20% compared to the same period in 2020, to 7.1 GB.
The use of international roaming services, in particular data transmission, also increased year-over-year. The number of Kyivstar subscribers using 4G services in its network grew by 30.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, to 12.1 million.
The total number of Kyivstar mobile subscribers over the specified period rose by 1.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, to 26.2 million subscribers.
Kyivstar fixed-line internet and TV revenues grew by 11.9% thanks to the 7.3% increase in the number of Home Internet service customers. The total number of clients of the Home Internet service in the fourth quarter of 2021 reached 1.2 million.
Kyivstar’s operating CAPEX in the fourth quarter of last year rose by 45.7%, to UAH 1.8 billion.
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian telecommunications operator. It provides communication and data transmission services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed-line technologies, including 3G. By the end of 2020, its services were used by about 25.9 million mobile subscribers and about 1.1 million fixed-line Internet customers.
Kyivstar’s shareholder is the international group VEON (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.). The group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (New York).
The State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine increased revenues to the state budget for the provided special permits and geological information by 1.6 times (by UAH 597 million) in 2021 compared to 2020, to UAH 1.58 billion, head of the service Roman Opimakh has said.
“We have all the prerequisites that 2022 will not be worse,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to him, in particular, revenues to the state budget from licenses sold at electronic auctions increased by 14.7% (by UAH 118 million) in 2021 compared to 2020, to UAH 923 million. The number of special permits sold through e-auction increased by 3.8 times (by 118), to 160.
In general, last year the service issued 377 new licenses, which is 2.8 times more than in 2020 (136). Every third of them was issued for the raw materials used in the construction, the most popular were special permits for amber, and the most expensive lots traditionally were hydrocarbon sites.
Opimakh clarified that in 2021, the State Geology Service granted special permits for the development of over 50,000 square meters of hydrocarbon areas. The main recipients were the companies of Naftogaz Group, in particular, the first gas produced at Yuzivska area is expected as early as 2022.
In addition, the Service prepared 35 facilities for investors in the development of strategic raw materials, which are used in the defense industry, aircraft manufacturing and the “green transition.”
“A list of strategic minerals has finally been approved, which includes 37 elements. An atlas of strategic minerals has also been submitted, a list of over 200 potential sites has been compiled, which we expect to be approved in 2022 and to be open for auctions or signing of agreements on production section, an interactive map of such special permits, deposits and ore occurrences was compiled – more than 900 objects,” Opimakh said.
At the same time, he recalled that Ukraine still has limited access to geological information on the reserves of strategic raw materials. “The Ministry of Natural Resources worked hard on this last year, I hope that the work will end with the removal of this stamp,” the head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil said.
Opimakh also recalled that in 2021, the largest number of special permits in recent times, 315, was revoked. The key grounds for revocation were court decisions (73%), voluntary refusal (10%) and decisions of the National Security and Defense Council (9%). In terms of minerals: construction materials and groundwater – 31% each, coal – 23%, hydrocarbons – 12%, and metal ores – 2%.
The key grounds for revocation are the following: subsoil use has not been started for two years, there are no documents for land for subsoil use, the absence of a mining allotment certificate, non-admission to the facility for inspections, failure to comply with the requirements of design documents or their absence.
In addition, the Service took an active part in the fight against illegal mining, the bulk of which is associated with sand. In particular, the possibility of prompt verification of the legality of mining through a smartphone has been created.
“Together with the State Geological Information Fund, we have prepared an excellent product that will make it easier for the police and the public to check for a special permit at the operational level. If you see, perhaps, illegal mining, then you can see if there is a special permit and whether it is valid,” he explained.
The service’s materials also clarified that in 2021, subsoil users paid UAH 51.5 billion in royalty payments.
