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bne February 2019 Companies & Markets I 9
Profit of Czech forest enterprise Lesy
CR down 60% to CZK1.62bn in 3Q18
Nelly Tomcikova in Prague
Gross profit of the Czech state enterprise Lesy CR (Forests of the Czech Republic, LCR) dropped by 60% y/y to CZK1.62bn (€62.7mn) in 3Q18, due to the fall in timber prices, LCR spokesman Eva Jouklova told the Czech News Agency.
Sales decreased by 28% to CZK6.23bn from CZK8.6bn a year earlier until the end of September. Timber mining increased by 25% to 7.88 cubic metres as of end September, which for 9M18 is almost equal to the volume of year-round mining in previous years.
“The y/y decline in profits has led to dramatic reductions in wood prices and need to exploit low quality bark beetle or wood damaged by wind, which is in surplus in the Czech Republic,” said Jouklova.
The company has been surrounded by controversy since it was taken over by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. As bne IntelliNews recently reported in its cover story “Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is the king of the woods,” the prime minister has made a fortune from forestry and has been
Czech state enterprise Lesy CR (Forests of the Czech Republic) sees profits fall due to bark beetle infection
accused of exploiting the forests and causing an ecological disaster in the republic.
The bark beetle is common in Czech forests and the company has been trying to log as many trees as possible before all trees were infected. The analysis of the bark beetle issue and its solution in 2019 will be announced by the Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman together with the CEO of LCR Josef Vojacek at a press conference on December 14.
The company, which owns almost half of the forests in the country, was criticised for not reacting earlier and taking preventive steps. The Czech Republic has suffered from the bark beetle calamity since 2016. Most of the infected forests are in Northern Moravia.
“The company has been surrounded by controversy since it was taken over by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis”
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Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn Jaroslav Hroch in Prague
Avast, which owns the popular consumer antivirus company AVG, will apply to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in the hope of raising $200mn (CZK4.1bn) in primary proceeds from an IPO, the Czech-founded company announced on April 12.
See page 2
St Petersburg's start-up scene flourishes on high talent and low costs
Contents
Avast to enter London bourse
in bid to raise up to $1bn 1 Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn 2 St Petersburg's start-up scene
flourishes on high talent and low costs 3 Romania entrepreneur aims to put home-grown UAV defence technology industry on the map 6
FinTech
Russia's mobile major MTS increases stake in Ozon to 16.7% 9
Blockchain
Romanian startups at the heart
of blockchain energy trading rally 10
Central Europe
Russian-Lithuanian startup Gosu.ai
raises $1.9mn from Russian and
French investors 13
Eurasia
Iran hit by cyber attack that left US
flag on screens 14 Iranian government set to block hugely popular Telegram messaging app 15 Iran's black market phone disconnection drive pushes up legal mobile imports 15
Eastern Europe
Internet catches up with TV on Russian
ad market 17 Sales of connected appliances jump
in Russia 17 Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 18 Russia ranks second in the world
for digital piracy 18 Russian messaging service Telegram raised another $850mn with ICO 19
Southeast Europe
Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 20
The Regions This Month 21
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Filip Brokes in St Petersburg See page 3
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