Rusagro reduced investments in the first quarter by 32.4%

The report also states that the net profit of Rusagro for the first three months of 2023 amounted to 5.4 billion rubles, which is 1.76 times more than for the same period in 2022. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 56% to RUB 7.13 billion, with a margin of 15% against 26% a year earlier. Revenue decreased by 23% to 47.3 billion rubles.

“The company’s revenue was declining in all divisions, except for the meat division, mainly due to a decrease in sales prices amid falling global product prices and the dollar/ruble exchange rate from the high level of the first quarter of 2022, as well as the postponement of sales of agricultural products due to late deadlines cleaning, - the words of the general director of "Rusagro" Timur Lipatov are given in the report. He attributed the decrease in EBITDA to a drop in revenue across all business segments under pressure from lower sales prices. According to him, this decline was also offset by the growth in production volumes of the meat business area both in Primorsky Krai after the launch of the pig-breeding cluster, and due to the increase in production efficiency in the Central Federal District.

According to the documentation, in the first quarter of this year, Rusagro produced 132 thousand tons of crude vegetable oil, which is 25% less than the same quarter a year earlier. The decrease is due to market conditions and difficulties with the shipment of ships due to ice conditions in Astrakhan in January and February 2023. 

The volume of sales of industrial oil and fat and dairy products amounted to 266 thousand tons, which is 18% less than the same quarter of the previous year. Crude vegetable oil sales declined 42% due to a reduction in sunflower seed processing amid market conditions and vessel loading difficulties. Meal sales decreased by 11% following a decline in sunflower processing.

Sales of key categories of consumer products amounted to 67 thousand tons. The decrease was 11%, it is explained by the effect of a high base in the first quarter of 2022, when against the backdrop of geopolitical events and in anticipation of rising prices, there was an increased demand for products. During the reporting period, Rusagro produced 89 thousand tons of pork in live weight, which is 14% more than in the same quarter of the previous year. The growth of the indicator is mainly due to the increase in production capacities in the Primorsky Territory.

Sales volumes of pig products increased by 19% to 72 thousand tons, primarily due to an increase in production volumes in the Primorsky Territory and an increase in production efficiency in the Central Federal District, including through the implementation of a project to expand the deboning capacity. The sales of lumpy meat grew the most, the report says. The company also produced 69 thousand tons of sugar, which is 23% more than was produced during the first quarter of 2022. This is due to the extension of the work of the plants in the 2022/23 season until February 2023.

The volume of grain sales amounted to 88 thousand tons - a decrease of 51%. Wheat sales fell by 26% to 59 thousand tons, corn - by 71% to 29 thousand tons. The entire volume of corn for the 2022/23 season was contracted for sale in the second and third quarters of this year on more favorable terms, the company noted. Sales of oilseeds increased by 8% to 127 thousand tons as a result of an increase in sales of sunflower seeds by 2.5 times (+25 thousand tons) while sales of soybeans decreased by 15% (-16 thousand tons). 

Rusagro was founded in 1995, as a group of companies it began operating in 2003. Rusagro business segments: sugar, oil and fat, crop production, pig farming. The holding's assets are located in the Belgorod, Voronezh, Tambov, Kursk, Orel, Samara regions, as well as in the Primorsky Territory and Yekaterinburg. The Group is actively developing its export business.