OJSC PhosAgro (PHOR)
PhosAgro Shareholders Recognise Company's Successful 2019 Results, Approve
Dividend Payment
26-May-2020 / 12:00 MSK
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according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group.
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For Immediate Release 26 May 2020
PhosAgro Shareholders Recognise Company's Successful 2019 Results, Approve
Dividend Payment
Moscow - The Annual General Shareholders' Meeting (AGM) of PhosAgro ("the
Company")
(Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR) has approved a dividend payout in the amount of
RUB 2.331 billion, or RUB 18 per share (RUB 6 per GDR), from undistributed
net profit for 2019. The dividend record date was set as 2 June 2020.
Held through absentee voting on 22 May 2020, the AGM approved the Company's
annual report for 2019, which reflects record production results: a 6.1%
increase in the production of fertilizers and feed phosphates to 9.5 million
tonnes and 10.5 million tonnes of phosphate rock.
This robust operational performance enabled the Company to achieve excellent
financial results, including a record level of free cash flow, which was up
nearly 40% year-on-year to more than
RUB 28 billion; a 6.3% year-on-year increase in revenue to RUB 248.1
billion, mainly due to a 7% boost in fertilizer sales; a 0.9% increase in
EBITDA to RUB 75.6 billion, with a consistently high margin of 30.5%; and
adjusted net profit of RUB 37.1 billion.
Improvements in the Company's financial performance enabled PhosAgro both to
completely self-finance its annual capital investment programme and to
reduce its debt. As of the end of the year, net debt amounted to RUB 132
billion, while net debt/EBITDA decreased to 1.74x (down from 1.81x at the
end of 2018).
PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev said: "PhosAgro has been able to maintain steady
growth by implementing a large-scale investment programme, constantly
improving production efficiency and optimising business processes. Another
factor that has enabled PhosAgro to maintain its status as one of the
best-performing companies in the global mineral fertilizer industry is its
vertical integration, which ensures a high level of self-sufficiency in
terms of key feedstocks. As a result, we were able to weather what was a
difficult period for many industry players that saw low prices in global
fertilizer markets.
"In 2019, the Company achieved excellent results in several areas:
sustainable development, corporate governance, progress in implementing
strategic initiatives, and robust operational and financial results, which
enabled PhosAgro to continue to make consistent dividend payments, to
finance new investment projects, and to carry out social and charitable
programmes in accordance with PhosAgro's Development Strategy to 2025."
Strategy 2025, approved by PhosAgro's Board of Directors in March 2019, is
aimed at further strengthening the Company's position as one of the
lowest-cost producers of environmentally friendly phosphate-based
fertilizers in the industry, while also increasing production capacity and
guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of the Company's business
processes all over the world.
One of the key elements of Strategy 2025 is PhosAgro's commitment to the
principles of sustainable development. The Company's efforts in this area
are coordinated by a specialised Board of Directors committee established in
May 2019 and led by the independent director Irina Bokova, a former head of
UNESCO with unique expertise in this field. PhosAgro is working hard to meet
21 targets in line with a selection of 10 of the 17 UN Sustainable
Development Goals - key drivers behind environmental responsibility and
efforts to preserve the planet for future generations. In 2019, the Company
allocated RUB 9.1 billion for environmental activities.
No changes were made to the composition of PhosAgro's Board of Directors
during the AGM.
The AGM approved the election of the members of PhosAgro's Statutory Audit
Commission, the Company's annual financial statements for 2019 and the
distribution of the Company's profits for 2019, as well as an
interested-party transaction. In addition, the AGM also determined the
procedure, terms and amount of remuneration and compensation for members of
the Board of Directors. FBK LLC was confirmed as PhosAgro's auditor for
2020.
About PhosAgro
PhosAgro (www.phosagro.com) is one of the world's leading vertically
integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production
volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a
P2O5 content of 39% and higher. PhosAgro's environmentally friendly
fertilizers stand out for their high efficiency, and they do not lead to the
contamination of soils with heavy metals.
The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by
total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of
high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and one of the leading
producers of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed
phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's
only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP).
PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 39 grades of fertilizers,
feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by
customers in 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents.
The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin
America, Europe and Asia.
PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary
receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the
ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in
the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes.
More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website:
www.phosagro.com.
*By total volumes of fertilizers supplied and by the simultaneous fertilizer
storage capacity.
ISIN: US71922G2093
Category Code: AGM
TIDM: PHOR
LEI Code: 635400F8A3KGJIIBIK95
OAM Categories: 2.2. Inside information
Sequence No.: 66002
EQS News ID: 1055231
End of Announcement EQS News Service
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2020 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT)
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