Page 35 - BELRptOct18

($34.5mn) in January-June , with the net profit margin ticking up slightly to 3.2%, the company said in a statement on September 11. The company's Ebitda grew by 7.3% y/y to BYN195.7mn in January-June. The Ebitda margin remained strong at 9.0%, albeit slightly lower than the 9.6% in the first half of 2017, primarily due to gross margin dynamics. Eurotorg, which was facing a very high possibility of default on its debt obligations to local banks, placed $350mn five-year Eurobonds in October 2017. Fitch Ratings has assigned Eurotorg a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'B-(EXP)' with a stable outlook. At the same time, Fitch has assigned an expected rating of 'B-(EXP)'/'RR4' to Eurotorg's proposed notes. Successful measures to reduce debt, combined with solid Ebitda growth, helped improve the net debt/Ebitda ratio to 3.0x as of June 30, compared to 3.2x at the end of 2017. The Ebitda/interest expenses LTM coverage ratio stood at 2.9x as of late June, compared to 2.7x as of late December 2017, the company said in the statement. The company's revenue increased by 14.9% y/y and reached BYN2.18bn (revenue in US dollar terms increased by 9.6% y/y and amounted to $1.1bn). Net retail sales increased by 11.5% y/y and reached BYN1.95bn (net retail sales in US dollar terms increased by 6.3% y/y and amounted to $0.98bn) mainly driven by like-for-like (LFL) sales growth and new store openings.
35 BELARUS Country Report October 2018 www.intellinews.com