Uralkali announces 1H19 results

1H19 financial highlights:

• Revenue up 10% y/y to US$1543 million.
• Net revenue up 17% y/y to US$1321 million.
• EBITDA up 19% y/y to US$874 million.
• EBITDA margin is 66%.
• Cash COGS is US$42.9/t.
• Average FCA export up 26% y/y to US$245/t of potassium chloride (KCl).

1H19 operational highlights:

• Production volume down 3% y/y to 5.7 million t of KCl.
• Sales volume down 8% y/y to 5.4 million t of KCl.

1H19 corporate highlights:

• In June the company signed a pre-export facility with 13 international banks with tranches for US$725 million and €650 million. The interest rate is LIBOR plus 190 bps margin for US$ tranche and EURIBOR plus 170 bps margin for EURO tranche with a loan maturity of 5 years. The loan is used for refinancing of Uralkali’s existing loans and general corporate purposes.
• In June Uralkali’s AGM decided not to pay dividends on the outstanding common registered shares of Uralkali for 2018, to pay dividends on the outstanding preferred shares of the company in the amount of RUB0.1 per preferred share. The decision regarding the payment of minimal dividends on the outstanding preferred shares was recommended by the Board of Directors in order to support the current balance of voting and non-voting shares of the company and to thus ensure that the current percentage of voting shares of the minority shareholders of Uralkali is preserved.

Dmitry Osipov, Uralkali CEO, commented: "An increase in potash prices in late 2018-early 2019 has had a positive impact on Uralkali’s revenue in the reporting period. Despite the declining demand in 2019 in some major markets, in the long run we are optimistic on potash industry fundamentals."

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/potash/03092019/urakali-announces-1h19-results/