Astarta boosts revenues 81% yoy in 1Q10

Astarta-Kyiv (WSE: AST PW) announced its 1Q10 financial results this morning in a press release: total revenues of USD 52.5 mln, up 81% yoy; EBITDA of USD 29.0 mln, up 5.7x yoy (margin of 55.2% vs. 17.6% in 1Q09); and net income of USD 24.8 mln, up 21x yoy (net margin of 47.2% yoy vs. 4.1% in 1Q09). As of end-1Q10, the company’s net debt equaled USD 109.0 mln (down 11% yoy) and it had cash and equivalents of USD 410 ths. Ruslan Patlavskyy: The major drivers behind Astarta’s 1Q10 positive performance were: (1) negative sugar balance in Ukraine, which boosted domestic wholesale sugar prices +108% yoy during the period. Therefore, as the company’s 1Q10 sugar output decreased to 43 ths mt (-2.3% yoy), its sugar sales grew to USD 36.2 mln (+112% yoy); and (2) favorable pricing for agricultural commodities during 1Q10, which increased Astarta’s crop sales by 61% yoy to USD 10 mln, as the company exported ~80% of its crops. As for FY2010, the company plans to produce ~450 ths mt of grains and oilseeds (+20% yoy), 320 ths mt of sugar (+42%, vs. our sugar output forecast of 280 ths mt) and 50 ths mt of milk (+14% yoy).