December 01, 2015, 15:00 / Business

Acron increased revenue due to weakening ruble

increased Over the nine months of 2015, Acron revenue by 53%, to 80.7 billion rubles, compared to the same period last year, the company’s report says. EBITDA increased 2.4 times, to 31.4 billion rubles, and the EBITDA margin level was 39% versus 24% in January-September 2015. At the same time, production and sales volumes were 2.7% lower than for the nine months of last year - 4.71 million tons and 4.68 million tons, respectively. Net profit for the reporting period increased by 48%, to 14.3 billion rubles.

The company’s immediate goal is to reduce the net debt/EBITDA ratio below 1.0 (currently 1.4), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company Alexander Popov commented on Acron’s results. In the future, the company intends to maintain its debt burden at a low, comfortable level, which will increase the percentage of profits distributed as dividends, he said.

The weakening of the ruble had the greatest impact on revenue growth, Acron said in its report. And the decrease in sales volume is due to the modernization of equipment at the Hongzhi-Acron plant and major repairs at the site in Nizhny Novgorod.

The launch of a new ammonia unit in Veliky Novgorod is scheduled for the first quarter of 2016, and major repairs at Acron plants next year are planned in a smaller volume, Popov noted. Taken together, this creates the preconditions for the growth of the company’s production and financial performance, he emphasized.

According to the results of the reporting period, the cost of production increased by 26%, to 39.9 billion rubles, the company reported. Its growth was most influenced by the increase in the cost of purchased potassium chloride, the prices of which are pegged to the US dollar exchange rate. The largest share of Acron’s revenue was made up of sales in the markets of China (RUB 20.3 billion), Latin America (RUB 12.3 billion) and Russia (RUB 14.9 billion), as follows from the report.

Acron is one of the world's largest producers of mineral fertilizers. Acron's enterprises are primarily located in the Novgorod, Smolensk, and Murmansk regions, as well as in China.

Previously on the topic: The devaluation of the ruble has opened up opportunities for speculators