Gostomel Glass is major contributor to Vetropack’s sales growth in 1H08

Vetropack, the Swiss glass producer and majority shareholder of Vetropack Gostomel Glass (GSKZ: BUY), said that its Ukrainian subsidiary was primarily responsible for its 3.2% increase in overall group sales to 2.2 bln units in 1H08. According to Vetropack, the launch of a new furnace at Gostomel Glass helped the group to overcome production losses due to the planned repair of furnaces in the Czech Republic and Croatia. Vetropack Gostomel Glass accounted for 12% of the group’s revenues in 1H08, up from 10% in 1H07. The Ukrainian company posted 51% yoy increase in net revenues in 1H08 to USD 43.4 mln, grew EBITDA by 40% to USD 11.5 mln, and doubled net income to USD 6.1 mln. Olha Pankiv: Gostomel Glass’ 1H08 results put the company on track to meet our projections for 2008. We confirm our BUY recommendation on the stock.