Agriculture

Agricultural companies in Ukraine harvested 41.5 mln tonnes of grain and leguminous crops as of December 3, with an average yield of 2.85 tonne per ha. Agricultural companies processed about 14.6 mln ha of sowing area this season. Agrarians have sown 9.3 mln ha with winter crops: 6.65 mln ha with wheat, 1.22 mln ha with barley, 0.32 mln ha with rye and 1.4 mln ha with rape.

MHP [MHPC LI, U/R] has harvested 211.5 thsd tonnes of wheat in 2010 (+1.7% YoY). Despite adverse weather conditions, the Company has achieved good yields. Average yield of wheat is 4.8 t/ha, corn – 7.8 t/ha, sunflower – 2.6 t/ha. Corn and sunflower harvest results will be announced shortly.

Milkiland [N/R], a diversified dairy producer operating in Russia and Ukraine, will place 22.4% of its shares on the Warsaw stock exchange at a price of PLN 33.78 (USD 11.3), which is PLN 11.72 (USD 3.9) lower than the maximum offered price. The company will raise about USD 79.4 mln in the IPO. The offering comprises 6.25 mln newly issued shares and 0.75 mln existing shares.

Kernel’s [KER PW, U/R] Board of Directors decided not to pay dividends for FY10 and to carry forward the net loss of the Parent Company (Kernel Holding S.A.). Such decision was adopted at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company’s shareholders held on Monday, November 15.

Mriya [MAYA GR, BUY] decided to postpone its debut Eurobond issue to 1Q11. This decision was made due to unfavorable debt market conditions. Recently Fitch & S&P have assigned “B-” and “B” ratings to the planned Eurobond issue. The planned volume of the issue is USD 300 mln.

MHP [MHPC LI, BUY] posted strong financial 9M10 results. The Company’s net sales increased by 35% YoY to USD 676 mln (9M09: USD 502 mln). EBITDA increased by 18% YoY to USD 232 mln (9M09: USD 197 mln). EBITDA margin remains high, however it decreased to 34% from 39% in 9M10. Net income grew by 54% YoY to USD 158 mln versus USD 103 mln in 1H09 partially due to the foreign currency gains.

Kernel [KER PW, U/R] posted its strong financial results for FY1Q11 (July 2010 – September 2010). According to Company’s data, net revenue increased by 44% YoY to USD 345.4 mln (FY1Q10: USD 240.3 mln). EBITDA grew by 89% YoY to USD 67.5 (FY1Q10: USD 35.8). The EBITDA margin increased by 4.7 p.p. to 19.5% in FY1Q11. Net income decreased by 13% YoY to USD 33.9 mln (FY1Q10: USD 39.2 mln), while operating profit grew by 95% YoY to USD 59.7 mln versus USD 39.2 mln in FY1Q10. Net margin fell by 6.5 p.p. YoY to 9.8% (FY1Q09: 16.3%).

Astarta [AST PW, U/R] has posted strong financials in 3Q2010. According to Company’s data net income increased by 262% YoY to EUR 76.2 mln (3Q09: EUR 21.1 mln). Consolidated revenue increased by 74% YoY to EUR 130.7 mln (3Q09: EUR 75.3 mln), operating profit grew by 179% YoY to EUR 81.6 mln versus EUR 29.2 mln in 3Q09. EBITDA grew up by 165% YoY to EUR 93.9 (3Q09: EUR 35.4). EBITDA margin grew from 47% in 3Q09 to 72% in 3Q10 and net margin – from 28% to 58%.

Landkom [LKI LN, HOLD] has completed its winter planting campaign. The Company had sown a total of 28.85 thsd ha in winter crops, which is 35% more than in previous years (21.28 thsd ha). Landkom has planted 12.86 thsd ha in rapeseed, 13.15 thsd ha in winter wheat, 1.91 thsd ha in winter barley, 0.43 thsd ha in mustard, 0.29 thsd ha in rye, and 0.21 thsd ha in forage crops.

Kernel [KER PW, U/R] has sold its entire portfolio of VAT bonds to a third party for USD 118.65 mln, which represents a 12% discount of its face value of USD 134.91 mln.