Kernel shuts down some key operations

MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - Kernel, one of Ukraine's largest agribusiness groups, has shut down a number of its key production facilities due to the destruction of energy infrastructure, including oil extraction plants, cogeneration heat-and-power plants, elevators and export terminals, Ukrainian media reported, citing a Kernel filing with the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Power supply remains unstable, which continues to disrupt the operations of the group's subsidiaries in Ukraine, Kernel said.

Railway service to the port of Chernomorsk has been shut down completely and it is unclear when they will be restored, the company said. Kernel's grain and sunflower oil handling facilities at the port depended a great deal on train shipments. Handling volumes have fallen and logistics costs have increased.

Kernel is one of Ukraine's largest producers and sellers of bottled sunflower oil and a major exporter of sunflower oil. The group also cultivates and sells other agricultural products.

Kernel closed the 2023 financial year (July 2022 to June 2023) with a net profit of $299 million, compared to a net loss of $41 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 35% to $3.455 billion, while EBITDA rose 150% to $544 million.

In the first half of financial 2024, Kernel's net profit tumbled 72% year-on-year to $102 million and EBITDA fell by half to $223 million, as revenue slumped 16% to $1.59 billion.