Page 154 - RusRPTDec21

Adjusted EBITDA and 1P gross margin was negatively affected by the general change in IFRS accounting for inventory – by Rb0.5bn (0.5% GMV).
Margin in 3Q21 was also affected by logistics capacity build-up ahead of the high season – total warehouse space grew 60% q/q (vs +22% for GMV). Hence, logistics costs should decline q/q as a% GMV in 4Q21. Logistics cost per order, meanwhile, has been still steadily declining (down 16% y/y in 3Q21).
Ozon at this point believes it is sufficiently funded, but does not guide on extra funding plans.
● VK
Sberbank announced the sale to Gazprombank of its 36% stake in MF Technologies on 12 November 2021, which controls 57.3% of VK (Mail.ru Group) for a total of RUB12.8bn.
The banks aim to close the deal by YE21, subject to receiving all the necessary approvals. To recap, Sberbank acquired those shares from Gazprombank and Rostech in October 2019 for RUB11bn. At that time, we saw the purchase as a further step to tightening the links with Mail.ru following the announcement of the O2O joint venture with the company in July 2019, but noted Mail's complex business structure (including Mail's joint venture in e-commerce/payments with Alibaba).
In our view, the deal might signal Sberbank's change in approach to its cooperation with VK (Mail.ru), where the bank held one seat on the BoD before the sale. The parts of the O2O JV (including Samokat (grocery delivery), Delivery Club (food delivery) and Citimobil (taxi)) play an important role in Sberbank's ecosystem. However, how to develop them further might have faced different discussions and, with Sber's proven approach of getting control over its projects, the divorce of the two partners was only a matter of time, in our view (the Financial Times discussed this possibility in March 2021).
We see the sale of MF Technologies as positive for Sberbank, as this will allow it to re-route funds to other ecosystem projects, including e-commerce platform Sbermegamarket, in order to reach its ambitious strategic targets. We shall be looking for more information during the traditional Analyst Day in December 2021. In our view, the sale of the MF Technologies shares not only brings a potential positive effect for Sber's P&L, but could also potentially improve the asset structure and capital allocation. This becomes more important in view of the ongoing discussions about the CBR tightening ecosystem regulations.
● Wildberries
Total sales of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) on Russian online marketplace Wildberries leaped by 98% on the year to 395.7bn rubles in January–October, the online retailer said on Wednesday in a statement. “The country’s businessmen and self-employed become more
154 RUSSIA Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com