Astarta Profits Up 30.8% yoy In 2006

One of Ukriane’s largest sugar producers, Astarta (AST PW), announced revenues of EUR 68 ths yesterday, an increase of 30.8% yoy.  The company also saw its sugar sales jump from 66.4 ths mt to 91.5 ths mt over the same period. Additionally Astarta expanded its sugar beet output by 2.4 times to 527 ths mt. In 2006 the company boosted the amount of land it has under beet cultivation from 7,400 hectares to 15,600 hectares. In related news, Astarta announced that it had signed contracts with the vodka-maker Khortytsa and the pharmaceutical producer Galychfarm to provide them with sugar. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.  In August, Astarta placed a 20% stake on the Warsaw Stock Exchange for USD 31.6 mln.  Nick Piazza: The company plans to capture 10% of the Ukrainian sugar market by 2010.  Astarta captured the top score in our 2007 Ukrainian corporate governance ratings and is one of the leaders on the Ukrainian market in this sphere.