Acron incurs net loss in 1Q20

Key financials

• Revenue was US$423 million, down 5% y/y (up 7% quarter-on-quarter).
• EBITDA was US$110 million, down 31% y/y (up 11% quarter-on-quarter).
• Net loss was US$153 million (1Q19: profit of US$133 million, 4Q19: profit of US$30 million). The loss was primarily generated by non-cash items, namely a US$148-million foreign exchange loss from revaluation of foreign currency-denominated assets and liabilities, due to a slump in the dollar to rouble exchange rate in the reporting period.
• Net debt was up 4% to US$1258 million from US$1215 million.
• Net debt/LTM EBITDA was 2.5, up from 2.2.

Operating results

• Output of key products was 1.948 million t, up 1% year-on-year.
• Sales of key products totalled 1.994 million t, up 11% year-on-year.

Alexander Popov, Chair of Acron’s Board of Directors, commented on the results: “With an 11% increase in sales in 1Q20, we almost offset the decrease in global prices for complex fertilisers and UAN, 19% and 31%, respectively, falling just 5% short of our 1Q19 revenue.

“That said, financials did improve quarter-on-quarter: revenue was up 7%, EBITDA was up 11%. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing strong demand for mineral fertilisers globally. Supplies of key products to the domestic market are our priority, and these increased 45% to 682 000 t.

“A weaker dollar to rouble exchange rate in the late first quarter has yet to result in higher operating profit but generated a foreign exchange loss from revaluation of the loan portfolio and negative net profit. The loss is non-cash and, therefore, not representative. A weaker rouble coupled with growing output will prop up our financials in future periods.

“In view of the uncertain dynamics on the global markets due to the pandemic, we reduced our CAPEX, which affected the implementation rate of our flexible investment programme and will curb our debt burden”.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/nitrogen/22052020/acron-incurs-net-loss-in-1q20/