Moscow, August 26, 2022 – Segezha Group (MOEX: SGZH, owned by AFK Sistema), Russia’s leading vertically integrated wood and paper holding company carrying out a full cycle of logging and added-value wood processing operations, has announced its unaudited consolidated financial results and operating results for the first six months of 2022.

·         Revenue went up by 48% year-on-year (YoY) to RUB 63.3 bn, driven by the higher average selling prices of the Group’s products and the effect of the consolidation of the assets of the Novoeniseisk Wood-Chemical Complex (NLHK) and Inter Forest Rus (IFR), which became part of the Group in Q3 and Q4 2021, respectively.

·         OIBDA rose by 34% YoY to reach RUB 17.7 bn, driven by revenue growth and strict cost control by management.

·         The OIBDA margin stood at 28%.

·         Net profit went up by 58% YoY to RUB 12.0 bn thanks to an increase in operating profit and the positive effect of exchange rate differences and cross-currency and interest rate swaps.

·         Net debt as of 30 June  2022 had increased to RUB 95.2 bn (up 3.3õ compared with 30 June 2021), due to the implementation of an investment programme during the last year, payments for M&A transactions with IFR and NLHK, as well as the payout of the Company’s interim and final dividends for 9Ì and 12Ì 2021. 

·         ÑÀÐÅÕ stood at RUB 6.4 bn (-25% YoY) amid adjustments to the investment programme at a time of heightened macroeconomic uncertainty. 

Rovshan Aliev, Segezha Group’s Vice President for Finance and Investment, said:

“In the second quarter of 2022, we continued adapting our business to the new environment in an effort to ensure the uninterrupted operation of our production facilities. Our priorities were the further expansion of our sales geography, the conclusion of new partnerships and the transformation of our logistic schemes to meet our business needs. It should be emphasised that, in the first half of the year, we succeeded in increasing deliveries to the domestic market across a number of products.

“All of our efforts manifest themselves in the Company’s financial results. Revenue and OIBDA for the first six months of the year grew by 48% and 34%, respectively. Consistent work to control costs enabled us to maintain a high OIBDA margin. That said, net profit almost doubled vs last year to RUB 12.0 bn. The net debt to OIBDA ratio as of June 30, 2022 was 2.8õ, compared with 2.1õ as of year-end 2021 and 1.2õ as of June 30, 2021. This kind of growth is manageable and primarily driven by the implementation of our investment programme and M&A transactions. 

“We have all the necessary resources in place to maintain stable growth in the second half of 2022.”

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

A conference call and webcast will take place on August 26, 2022, at 1:00 pm Moscow time (11:00 am London time).

To participate in the call:

·         from Russia: +7 495 283 98 58

·         from the United Kingdom: +44 203 984 9844

·         the numbers for other countries can be found on the website.

Access code: 738667

To participate in the webcast, go to https://mm.closir.com/slides?id=738667.

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