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Sweden’s IKEA is recruiting 100 employees for its first Ukraine store, now scheduled to open in Kyiv at the end of this year. Ikea was to open earlier in the new Ocean Mall shopping centre, but the developer ran into delays with obtaining permits.
Last year, Sweden’s H & M opened its first two Ukraine stores, in Kyiv.
Now the company plans to open two more stores in Kyiv, one in Kharkiv and one in Dnipro. In River Mall, Germany’s Adidas is opening Adidas and Reebok stores, Spain’s Women's Secret and Springfield are opening stores, and Intertop Ukraine is opening Ukraine’s first standalone store of American outdoor brand The North Face. Earlier this year, Decathlon, Claudie Pierlot, Missha and Weill opened in Kyiv shopping centres.
9.2.6 Agriculture corporate news
● Astarta Holding
Ukrainian farmer and leading sugar producer Astarta reported €228.0mn in net revenue in 1H19, according to its August 16 filing. This is a 30.2% y/y surge with the key revenue driver being its agricultural segment (2.1x jump y/y to €106.2mn) in 1H19. The company’s sugar segment generated €55.3mn, or a 18.0% y/y drop in 1H19. The company’s soybean segment contributed €46.0mn to total revenue, or 15.8% y/y growth. The company’s EBITDA increased 6.3% y/y to €63.6mn in 1H19. Its farming segment EBITDA slid 0.4% y/y to €51.4mn, while its sugar segment generated €4.1mn of EBITDA (a 44.6% plunge y/y) in 1H19. The company’s soybean segment added to total EBITDA €5.0mn in 1H19, or a 2.7x jump y/y. The company’s bottom line dropped 18.7% y/y to €30.3mn in 1H19. The company’s operating cash flow before working capital changes rose 29.1% y/y to €15.2mn and net cash generated from operations jumped 3.5x y/y to €93.4mn in 1H19. The company’s net debt was €256.9mn as of end-June 2019 (13.1% lower YTD) and its net debt/LTM EBITDA ratio was 4.2x as of end-June 2019 (down from 5.2x as of end-December 2018).
● MHP
MHP poultry sales rise 18% y/y in 2Q19. Ukraine's largest poultry producer MHP (MHPC LI, MHPSA) sold 181.3 kt of poultry meat in 2Q19, a 18.4% y/y surge (and a 10.5% qoq increase), according to its July 17 trading update. The increase was driven by export sales, which jumped 38.9% y/y (and a 37.3% qoq increase) to 97.4 kt. Domestic sales amounted to 83.8 kt in 2Q19, which is 1.0% higher y/y, but 9.9% lower qoq. The company’s export sales accounted for 54% of total poultry sales in 2Q19 (up from 46% a year ago). During the quarter, the average selling poultry price rose 3.7% qoq to UAH40.1/kg (in $terms, the increase was 6.6% qoq to $1.51/kg). MHP also separately reported on the result of its newly acquired EU-based company Perutnina Ptuj, which sold 15.8 kt of poultry meat in 2Q19.
MHP to stop producing foie gras. Ukraine’s leading poultry producer and farmer MHP (MHPC LI, MHPSA) decided to cease production of goose meat and foie gras since September, it reported on July 31. The company said that production of foie gras “is not consistent with its strategy” of being a global leader in environmental and social standards and animal welfare. The company is offering for sale its goose meat factory, which accounted for less than 0.5% of its total assets, MHP said.
75 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com