Page 119 - RusRPTJun19

quarter net profit rose to RUB149.2bn ($2.3bn), up 37% from last year. Lukoil’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to 298.1bn rubles from 219.5bn rubles in the first quarter of 2018, it said.
9.2.2 Automotive corporate news
Russia's largest carmaker AvtoVaz posted net profit of RUB5.86bn ($90.5mn) in 2018 – the company’s first profit in a decade. The results for 2018 follow on from losses of RUB9.66bn under IFRS in 2017, the company said on April 30. While some carmakers in Russia have been hit hard by a deep dive in the market in 2015-2016, helped by its largest shareholder Renault, AvtoVaz consolidated its market share and emerged on top from the crisis. Russia’s car market has started to recover from a deep contraction that began in 2018. Car sales have been growing slowly for the last two years but contracted for the first time since 2016 in February, before returning to growth again in March. The make up of the market has also changed: in the boom years Avtovaz lost out to foreign brands as consumers bought on credit, but since the downturn Russians have returned to the cheaper Avtovaz models en masse, which is again the best selling cars in Russia. The company boosted its Lada model sales by 16% y/y to 0.36mn vehicles in 2018 with a market share of 20%, and increased revenues by almost 25% to RUB283bn. Renault- Nissan is the largest shareholder in Avtovaz, together with Russian state technology agency Rostec. Since autumn 2018 Rostec and Renault Nissan seek to consolidate 100% in Avtovaz. In April 2018 Avtovaz completed the second stage of a $1bn recapitalization by the French car major and Rostec, which brought their joint stake in the company to 83.5%. Net debt of Avtovaz as of end of 2018 was cut by 27% to RUB61.5bn, as estimated by VTB Capital, due to both operational improvements and the recapitalisation programme. Ebitda is estimated to have jumped 2.6-fold y/y to RUB22bn with margin doubling to 7.8%. As reported by bne IntelliNews, in January Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has signed a 10-year special investment contract with Avtovaz to increase the localisation of parts that go into the maker of the iconic Lada’s production. The deal is specifically designed to increase the amount of locally produced parts in the production of Lada, Renault, Nissan, Datsun and Mitsubishi cars as well as the modernisation of their production capacities, the ministry said. The deal will also create 2,300 new jobs, Avtovaz said in a statement.
9.2.3 Aviation corporate news
Following the deadly crash of domestic Sukhoi Super Jet 100 (SSJ-100) Russian national air carrier Aeroflot had to call off or delay another flights of the troubled airplane, Russian media outlets reported on May 8. Regular domestic flights to Perm and Rostov-on-Don on SSJ-100 were cancelled due to unspecified technical difficulties, while a flight to Murmansk was delayed. International flights to Minsk and Riga were delayed, with the passengers of the flight to the Latvian capital reportedly alarmed over a burning smell. A regional SSJ-100 airliner operated by Russian flag carrier Aeroflot crashed at Moscow Sheremetyevo airport on May 5 shortly after taking off for a regular flight to Murmansk. Out of 78 people on board, 41 people reportedly did not survive the crash. While the reasons of the crash remain to be investigated, the crash has opened a debate on the viability of domestically built jets despite billons of US dollars invested in the development
119 RUSSIA Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com