Odesa Portside Posts 2007 Top Line Growth of 18.6%, EBITDA up 5.2%

In its 2007 financials under local accounting standards, released yesterday, the Odesa Portside Plant reported a 18.6% yoy increase in net revenue to USD 441.4 mln. EBITDA reached USD 99.9 mln (+5.2% yoy, 22.6% margin), and net income climbed 30.5% to USD 61.1 mln (13.9% net margin). A 99.57% stake in the plant has been put on the 2008 privatization list. On February 6, the tender terms should have been officially published, however no information has been released yet. Vladimir Nesterenko: Apparently, high fertilizer prices worldwide enabled OPP to raise revenues, and also supported its profitability amid more than a 35% increase in the price of gas, its main input. Its EBITDA margin decreased only slightly, by 2.9 pp, from 25.5% in 2006. The substantial build-up in net income is most likely due to asset revaluation: in 2007 net non-operating income amounted to USD 6.4 mln, while in 2006 it was negative at USD 2.0 mln.