Sales of key products by Ukraine's Astarta down 17.3% in Q4, up 7.8% in 2024 Y-o-Y

MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) - Astarta Holding, Ukraine's largest sugar producer, posted a 17.3% decline in its revenue from sales of key products in October-December 2024 year-on-year, as the increase in sugar, soybean oil and milk sales was unable to offset the drop in sales of wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and soybean meal.

Astarta's total sales of its key products in the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at UAH 6.98 billion, down from UAH 8.45 billion recorded in the same period of 2023, Ukrainian media said, citing the holding's data published on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Specifically, sugar sales by volume went up 32% to 106,565 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2024 year-on-year, with its average sale price falling 9% to UAH 22,175 per tonne.

Meanwhile, Astarta's wheat sales dropped 45% to 165,730 tonnes in the fourth quarter of last year. The average sale price went up 17% to UAH 10,145 per tonne.

Corn sales plunged 81% to 33,387 tonnes in the reporting period, while the price rose 19% to UAH 9,399 per tonne.

The holding's sales of sunflower seeds fell 62% to 20,578 tonnes in October-December 2024. The price increased 63% to UAH 21,025 per tonne.

Rapeseed sales also dropped 22% to 18,162 tonnes in the reporting period. The price went up 38% to UAH 41,136 per tonne.

Soybean oil sales increased 25% to 12,990 tonnes in the fourth quarter of last year. The price also grew 38% to UAH 41,136 per tonne. Sales of soybean meal declined 5% to 42,920 tonnes in the reporting period. Its price was also 4% lower than in the previous year.

Astarta's milk sales went up 2% to 28,311 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2024. The price rose 41%.

Astarta saw a 7.8% rise in its sales of key products in 2024, when the increase in sales of sugar, wheat, rapeseed, soybean oil and milk offset the decline in its sales of corn and sunflower seeds. In particular, the holding's sugar sales went up 40% to 395,880 tonnes, but the average price of sugar fell 9% to UAH 23,850 per tonne. Astarta's total revenue from sales of its key products stood at UAH 24.88 billion in 2024 versus UAH 23.08 billion in 2023.

Astarta is a vertically integrated agricultural group operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar refineries, crop farms on 220,000 hectares of land, dairy farms with 22,000 heads of cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globino, Poltava region, seven grain elevators, and a biogas plant.

Astarta's net profit saw a 5% drop to 1.9 million euros in 2023 year-on-year. EBITDA fell 6.1% to 145.77 million euros, while revenue increased 21.3% to 618.91 million euros.

The holding's net profit rose 35.1% to 75.6 million euros, EBITDA grew 12.8% to $131.5 million, and revenue went up 12.6% to 441.46 million euros in January-September 2024 year-on-year.