Ferrexpo to Increase its Stake in Poltava Iron Ore

Ferrexpo AG (FXPO LN: HOLD) will increase its stake in Poltava Iron Ore (PGOK: SELL) to 96.0% by exercising its option to buy out Decometal’s (Austria) 10.6% stake, CEO Mike Oppenheimer told Interfax yesterday. Oppenheimer also said that investments into modernization at Poltava Iron ore will increase by 46% yoy to UAH 600 mln (USD 119 mln) and that pellet production there would be raised by 5.8% yoy to 9.6 mln mt. Eugene Cherviachenko: The existence of the buyout option was known to the market at IPO and is priced in, in our opinion. We accounted for Ferrexpo increasing control of shares in underlying asset Poltava Iron Ore in our target prices (see our report March 14) and maintain our recommendations on both stocks.