Kernel bulk oil sales rise 2.8% in 4QFY14

Обзоры по компаниям и отраслям 18.07.2014 Ukraine’s largest sunflower oil producer Kernel (KER PW) boosted its bulk oil sales 2.8% yoy to 298 kt in 4QFY14, while bottled oil sales fell 21% yoy to 19,000 liters. Grain sales came in 9.7% yoy lower at 714 kt, but export terminals throughput jumped 35.7% yoy to 841 kt. In annual terms, the company demonstrated operations growth in all segments except for oil sales, which fell 11.5% yoy to 921 kt for bulk oil and decreased 12.8% yoy to 94 kt for bottled oil. Grain sales grew 40.5% yoy to 4.2 mmt in FY14, and export terminals throughput advanced 22% yoy to 3.9 mmt. Roman Topolyuk: 4QFY14 turned out to be the best quarter for Kernel throughout the FY14 in terms of sunflower oil sales. But that didn’t enable the company to fully compensate for its weak 1QFY14 result, causing annual results to slide. With such operating results, Kernel is able to meet its most recent guidance for FY14 EBITDA of USD170 mln (-41% yoy). Given Kernel’s 75% crushing capacity load in FY15 and expected better results of its farming segment, we anticipate FY15 to become a turnaround year for the company, with EBITDA more than doubling to USD 354 mln (+108% yoy).