Ukraine's Astarta agroholding boosts revenue from sugar sales 1.5-fold in 2023

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Astarta agroholding, Ukraine's largest sugar producer, boosted revenue from sales of key products by 45.8% year-on-year to UAH 8.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, Ukrainian media reported, citing the company's report published on the Warsaw Stock Exchange's website.

Astarta said that sugar sales during the reporting period increased by 30% to 80,910 tonnes, while the average selling price decreased by 5% to UAH 24,250 per tonne.

Sales of wheat and corn rose 2.1-fold to 284,800 tonnes and 174,300 tonnes, respectively, thereby offsetting the decline of 8% in wheat to UAH 8,690 per tonne and decrease of 18% in corn to UAH 7,870 per tonne. Sales of sunflower seeds increased 2.3-fold to 54,600 tonnes and rapeseed 1.9-fold to 23,200 tonnes, with sunflower seeds declining by 19% to UAH 12,870 per tonne and rapeseed 27% to UAH 16,480 per tonne.

Sales of milk increased by 5% to 27,860 tonnes and the price rose by 16% to UAH 15,890 per tonne.

Sales of soybean oil decreased by 3% to 10,400 tonnes and the price declined by 35% to UAH 39,710 per tonne, though growth in sales of soybean meal by 24% to 45,400 tonnes and a price rise of 1% to UAH 17,790 per tonne partially offset this factor.

Consequently, revenue from the sale of sugar in the fourth quarter increased approximately by 23.4% to UAH 1.962 billion, milk by 21.8% to UAH 442.5 million, wheat 1.9-fold to UAH 2.474 billion, corn 1.7-fold to UAH 1.371 billion, sunflower seeds 1.9-fold to UAH 702.9 million, rapeseed by 36.4% to UAH 382.3 million, and soybean meal by 25.3% to UAH 807.6 million. Meantime, revenue from sales of soybean oil fell by 36.9% to UAH 308.3 million.

Astarta overall boosted revenue from sales of key products by 39.9% year-on-year to UAH 23.08 billion in 2023. Revenue from the sale of sugar was UAH 7.45 billion, growth of 48.5%; corn was UAH 4.19 billion, up 40.9%; soybean meal was UAH 3.34 billion, a rise of 51.4%; and wheat was UAH 2.93 billion, in line with 2022.

Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding that includes sugar factories, agricultural enterprises, dairy farms, an oil extraction plant, grain elevators, and a biogas complex.

The official exchange rate as on January 26, 2024, is UAH 37.58/$1.