Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agrarian groups, in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 (FY, began in July 2020), reduced sales of sunflower oil by 2% compared to the same period in the previous FY, to 371,920 tonnes.
According to a report posted on the company’s website on Friday, the share of bottled oil of total sales was 10% (37,000 tonnes).
Kernel processed 902,000 tonnes of oilseeds in Q3 FY2021, down 4% y-o-y due to the low harvest of sunflower seeds in Ukraine this season.
According to the report, grain export volume from Ukraine in January-March 2021 dropped 15% y-o-y, to 1.8 million tonnes, of which 1.3 million tonnes had been originated from external suppliers and the remaining had been produced by company’s farming division. Slowdown in the grain export volume was caused mostly by a substantial grain harvest reduction this season in Ukraine (including company’s farming operations) and the respective decline of the exportable grain surplus for the country.
The company’s export terminal throughput volume in Ukraine increased to 2.1 million tonnes in Q3 FY2021, up 6% y-o-y. Transshipment volume exceeded the grain export volume from Ukraine, as the company substantially increased the scale of sunflower meal transshipment operations on its terminals in Chornomorsk, with such goods being exported through third-party terminals before.
The holding cut grain and oilseeds received in inland silos by 12% in Q3 FY2021, to 109,021 tonnes.
The Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine has proposed that a zero quota is set for the export of sunflower seeds from May 15 through September 30, 2021.
The draft resolution has been posted on the ministry’s website.
In an explanatory note to the document, the ministry said that the introduction of a temporary licensing regime and quotas for the export of sunflower seeds at 0 tonnes will stabilize prices for this product in the domestic market.
The Cabinet of Ministers has supplemented the list of goods originating from the Russian Federation, prohibited for import into Ukraine, with wheat, sunflower oil, detergents, and paper.
According to the document, the list of prohibited goods was also replenished with surfactants, newsprint, cardboard, kraft paper and kraft cardboard, toilet paper, cosmetic napkins, hand towels, tablecloths and napkins.
The list also includes containers, boxes, bags, packing bags, ropes made of other alloy steels, drilling tools, other trolleys and undercarriage balancing trolleys, axles, wheels and their parts, according to the resolution.
The resolution comes into force ten days after its publication.
Kernel, the world leader in sunflower oil production, will invest an additional $63 million in 2021 fiscal year (started on July 1, 2020) in the implementation of an investment program for the construction of cogeneration heat and power plants its six oil crushing plants.
According to the company’s H1 FY2021 financial report, taking into account these funds, the total investment in the program since its inception in FY2018 reached $169 million. Three plants have already been already constructed and completing the precommissioning works, and three remaining facilities are to be commissioned in FY2022.
Kernel said that more than 50% of energy is already received from renewable sources, and their contribution to EBITDA in H1 FY2021 amounted to $10 million.
The company also recalled the goal announced in FY2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% over the next five years in the oilseeds segment.
Agricultural holding Kernel, one of the largest in Ukraine, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 (FY, began in July 2020) saw $170.64 million in net profit, a rise of 3.8-fold year-over-year.
According to the company’s report posted on Friday, its revenue in October-December 2020 grew by 28.5%, to $1.327 billion.
The company said that in H1 FY2021 its net profit amounted to $404.02 million, and revenue reached $2.267 billion, a rise of 3.9-fold and 20.4% year-over-year respectively.
Kernel said that EBITDA in Q2 FY2021 increased 2.5-fold, to $269 million, and in H1 FY2021 – 2.6-fold, to $559 million.
The company said in the report that a grain price boom and oilseeds price hikes created an opportunity momentum for trading business.
Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agrarian holdings, in the second quarter of 2021 fiscal year (FY), which started in July 2020, increased sales of sunflower oil by 23% compared to the same period of the previous FY, to 425,340 tonnes.
According to a report published on the website on Thursday, sales of bottled sunflower oil for the period amounted to 9.1% of total sales (in the same period previous FY it was 8.4%).
In October-December this year, the holding’s oil extraction plants processed 1 million tonnes of oilseeds, up 5% from the second quarter of 2020 FY. The company said that this is a record high indicator for the quarter.
The report said that grain exports from Ukraine in the first quarter of 2021 FY increased by 6%, to 2.4 million tonnes, of which 52% from external suppliers, the rest was produced by the company’s agricultural divisions.
Grain transshipment at export terminals in Ukraine in the specified period increased by 41%, to 2.38 million tonnes. As the company said, this is due to the increase in transshipment volumes at the new Kernel export terminal in Chornomorsk seaport. The volume of grain received by the company’s elevators increased by 17%, to 2.38 million tonnes, but in general for the first half of the year it decreased by 9%, to 3.63 million tonnes due to a decrease in the harvest this season.
In general, in the first half of 2021 FY, the company increased oilseed processing by 5%, to 1.66 million tonnes, oil exports by 11%, to 721,580 tonnes, grain transshipment at export terminals by 47%, to 4.25 million tonnes and grain exports by 16%, to 4.52 million tonnes.
Kernel ended 2020 fiscal year (FY, July 2019-June 2020) with net income of $123 million, less by 31% compared to 2019 FY. Its revenue grew by 4%, to $4.11 billion, and EBITDA by 28%, to $443 million. The company’s net debt in 2020 FY grew by 41%, to $980 million.
Kernel is a producer and exporter of sunflower oil. It operates in such business segments as production, export and domestic sales of sunflower oil, crop production, export of grain crops, provision of services for storage and transshipment of grain at elevators and in port terminals.
