Revenue of AB Linas Agro Group for the 9 months of the 2021/2022 financial year exceed EUR 1.3 billion, net profit up 931%

During the nine months of the financial year, the subsidiaries of AB Linas Agro Group, an owner of agricultural and food industry companies (the Group), sold 2.9 million tons of production, or 21% more than in the previous year. Consolidated revenue of the Group grew by 89% in 9 months of FY 2021/2022 and exceeded EUR 1.3 billion. Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 288% to EUR 66 million.

The Group earned EUR 39 million in operating profit, or 680% more than in the previous year. Gross profit was EUR 102 million or 250% higher than last year. Profit before tax grew by 970% to EUR 32 million. Net profit increased by 931% to EUR 26 million.

"Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we have withdrawn from trade with Russian and Belarusian partners, have cut off trade relations with our subsidiaries in Russia and Belarus, and have been intensively looking for buyers for those companies. We had to look for new supply markets, which led to increased costs and a greater necessity for working capital.

Although the war in Ukraine and the withdrawal from trade relations with Russia and Belarus did not have a significant impact on the results for the period, the result for future periods will largely depend on our ability to switch to alternative suppliers, thus we are working hard on this.

Due to the rising costs of gas, electricity and raw materials, operating costs reached unprecedented heights and directly affected our financial results. Thus, we are pleased that against the background of the rising costs of war and energy resources, we were profitable and even performed better than in the previous year,” commented Mažvydas Šileika, the Chief Financial Officer of AB Linas Agro Group.

Consolidated Group’s revenue for the third quarter was EUR 492 million and 108% higher than a year before. Gross profit for Q3 increased 4.2-fold to EUR 38 million, while the operating result turned from a loss of EUR 0.1 million in the previous year to a profit of EUR 16 million this year. Net profit for the period was EUR 11 million, compared to EUR 1 million net loss for the corresponding period of the previous year.

"As we expected, the acquisition of KG Group expanded our product basket and geography, and reduced the seasonality of our operations, resulting in a better-than-normal profitability in the third quarter,” said M. Šileika.

The Group sold 1.7 million tons of grain and oilseeds, a decrease of 7% compared to the previous year’s reporting period. Sales volume of compound feeds, premixes, and raw materials for feed was 655 thousand tons or 100% higher.  The total revenue of the Grain, Oilseeds, and Feed Segment increased by 60% during the reporting period up to EUR 854 million, while operating profit increased by 282% to EUR 11 million.

"Although we sourced and sold smaller quantities of grain grown in the Baltics due to a smaller and lower quality harvest, our revenue grew due to high world market prices for grain. The contraction in grain volumes was offset by the production of compound feeds and premixes, which has become a significant activity for the Group. This activity significantly increased the profitability of the entire operating segment. With the termination of relations with Russia and Belarus, we have lost long-standing suppliers, and the cost of feed has increased; therefore, we consider our performance under these circumstances to be outstanding,” said M. Šileika.

The Group’s revenue from goods and services for farmers grew by 125% to EUR 262 million, and the operating profit was 738% higher and reached EUR 37 million. Sales of certified seeds, plant care products, and fertilizers went up 192% to EUR 196 million, agricultural machinery, spare parts, and services sales increased by 24% to EUR 55 million, and revenue from grain elevators and farm installation projects went up 90% to EUR 6 million.

"A lot of farmers had already bought fertilizer for spring sowing in the fall or winter, so the continued rise in grain prices in the spring encouraged farmers to invest more in machinery. Rising milk prices have also improved the economic situation of farmers. Due to the uncertainty caused by the war, many farmers bought more goods than necessary, thinking not only about the upcoming spring sowing, but also about the future autumn sowing; thus, sales volumes increased. Although we stopped selling agricultural machinery parts to Belarus and Russia when the war broke out, the loss of revenue was more than compensated by the increase in sales in the Baltic countries,” said M. Šileika.

The revenues of agricultural companies of the Group from crop production increased by 7%, from milk sales– by 32%, from meat sales diminished by 11%, in total went up 14% to EUR 32 million, however, the operating loss of 91 thousand euro incurred as compared to EUR 1.4 million operating profit in the same period of the previous year.

"The geopolitical situation and Inflation have made fertilizers and other agricultural inputs more expensive; agricultural companies were not profitable even with rising grain and milk prices, as most crop production was sold in previous accounting periods at lower prices. The profitability of agricultural activities in this financial year will be lower than in the previous year,” said M. Šileika.

Revenue of the Food Products Segment, which includes poultry and flour products, grew by 366% during the reporting period to EUR 244 million; operating loss amounted to EUR 7.4 million, as compared to EUR 0.9 million loss for the same period a year earlier.

"Poultry business makes the whole segment loss-making. Even the increase in poultry meat prices has not compensated for the increase in production costs due to record feed and gas prices. The situation in poultry farming is difficult, even though we have paid a lot of attention to this activity in this financial year and achieved good production indices: in a record time we have achieved that 60% of the birds in our poultry farms in Lithuania are reared without the use of antibiotics. In Latvia, it have taken a few years to reach 100%.  Looking for ways to optimize our operations, we have closed some of our birdhouses in Lithuania, suspended the operation of our slaughter and cutting facility in Kaišiadorys, and shifted poultry slaughter to AB Vilniaus Paukštynas. However, with the continuing high prices of energy resources, the poultry business remains loss-making,” commented M. Šileika on the problematic situation.

The acquisition of companies acting under the brand KG Group has resulted in some new activities in the Group, which have been allocated to the Other Activities segment. These include the provision of pest control and hygiene goods and services, the production and sale of petfood, the provision of veterinary pharmaceutical services and the wholesale and retail sale of veterinary medicines. Revenue from these activities almost reached EUR 28 million, and operating profit was EUR 0.4 million.

AB Linas Agro Group is the Baltics' largest agricultural and food production group, employing over 5.3 thousand people. The group operates along the entire food production chain ‘from the field to the table’: company’s subsidiaries produce, process, and market agricultural and food products, also provide goods and services to farmers.

ENCL.:
AB Linas Agro Group Consolidated Unaudited Financial Statements and Interim Activity Report for the nine months period ended 31 March 2022

Mažvydas Šileika, CFO of AB Linas Agro Group
Mob. +370 619 19 403
E-mail m.sileika@linasagro.lt

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• 2021-2022_9M_reports