OREANDA-NEWS. August 31, 2007. JSC Acron posted RUB 14.339 billion in IAS revenue for the first six months of 2007 up 17.6% from RUB 12.189 billion for the same period in 2006. Net profit for the accounting period was up 20.8% to RUB 2.195 billion against RUB 1.817 billion for the first six months of 2006. EBITDA was up 15.2% year-on-year to RUB 3.552 billion.
 
“The Holding’s enterprises have shown excellent performance this year,” says JSC Acron vice president Alexander Popov. “It is important for us to see that our investments in production are bringing in profit. In addition to the stable production rates at JSC Acron we see good growth at its subsidiaries - JSC Dorogobuzh and Hongri Acron. Last year Hongri Acron began producing methanol with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year. There is enormous demand for methanol in the Chinese market.

Manufacturers of nitrogen and complex fertilizers in Russia and other CIS countries are seeing prices for basic raw materials rise faster than the inflation rate; over the next five years global demand for fertilizers will grow at a pace of 3-4% annually. Higher prices are easily counteracting producers’ escalating expenses.”

JSC Acron’s complete IAS statements for the first six months of 2007 may be found at www.acron.ru/investor_annual_en.html