Grupa Azoty hails ‘transformational 2014’ as net profits rise year to year
March 16 2015 - 11:14AM
Business Wire
Grupa Azoty SA delivered strong annual results, ending 2014
with sales revenues at the level of PLN 9.9bn (PLN 9.8bn in 2013)
with net profits of PLN 265m (from adjusted net profits of PLN 245m
in 2013). In comparison to the previous year, the EBITDA results
have also gone up by nearly PLN 100m, to PLN 822m.
[PLN 1 = $0.25, £0.17]
Commenting on the results announcement, Paweł Jarczewski, Chief
Executive Officer, said:
“2014 was a transformational year for us, following the
complicated, yet successful consolidation of the chemical industry
in Poland and operationalization of our 2020 Strategy, including
plans for international expansion to new markets in the region and
overseas.
With strong financial results for 2014, we continue to believe
that we are on track to expand our business beyond Europe taking
our Polish success story further, delivering significant value for
shareholders.
We look forward to successful 2015 following closely a number of
opportunities for us to grow and expand further, but also key
geopolitical events: developments in Eastern Ukraine, free trade
negotiations between the European Union and the United States, and
the Sustainable Development Goals negotiations at the global
level.”
The analysis of the results and margins of individual businesses
shows that Fertilizers continue to represent the largest
share in profitability across the Group. The level of EBITDA was
maintained at 11% year-on-year mainly as a result of cost savings
realized on purchases of key raw materials (natural gas, natural
phosphates, potassium salt) and energy. This reduced the effect of
falling prices across virtually all product categories (mainly
urea, NPK fertilizers and ammonium sulphate), also covering the
necessary costs linked to the increased export sales.
While the sales, cost of sales and management costs of
Plastics were maintained at comparable levels to the
previous year, the negative margins were up from -8% to -2%.
Margins have benefited from the maximized production and growth in
the volume of sales due to the lower cost of energy resources.
Despite the higher sales, Chemicals (including the sale
of Siarkopol) showed a decline in EBITDA margin to PLN 45 million,
compared to PLN 71 million in 2013. The main reason behind this
decline was a revaluation of assets of the Kedzierzyn-Kozle
subsidiary (PLN 40 million) in the Q4 of 2014. Considering the post
tax result, the EBITDA margin increased due to lower costs of
energy resources and better pricing in the granular sulphur market
(for export).
Full financial report is available on the Company’s website
here.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (ticker: WSE:ATT), Grupa
Azoty SA is Poland’s largest chemical company and the European
Union’s second-largest EU producer of nitrogen and multi-component
fertilizers, while such products of Grupa Azoty as melamine,
caprolactam, polyamide, OXO alcohols, and titanium dioxide also
enjoy a strong position in the chemical sector and find application
in different other industries.
Grupa Azoty was founded as a result of the 2014 consolidation of
strategic Polish chemical companies. The group consists of such
subsidiaries as inter alia: Grupa Azoty S.A. (leading company),
Grupa Azoty Zakłady Azotowe „Puławy” S.A, Grupa Azoty Zakłady
Chemiczne „Police” S.A., Grupa Azoty Zakłady Azotowe Kędzierzyn
S.A.
By the end of the 2014 the Polish government declared Grupa
Azoty a ‘strategic asset’, and the Company announced it was seeking
to diversify its portfolio through regional and global
acquisitions.
ENQUIRESInstinctif Partners, LondonJakub
KrupaMonika SamorajGrupaAzoty@instinctif.com+44 20 7457
2020orGrupa Azoty Spokesperson, WarsawGrzegorz
Kulikrzecznik@grupaazoty.com+48 785 780 005