OREANDA-NEWS. May 22, 2008. Based on the consolidated international financial statements for 2007, the Company increased its revenues by 29%, as compared to 2006, to reach 13,557 mln rubles. The net profit of Belon Group amounted to 659 mln rubles (which is 48% less than the respective indicator of 2006), and EBITDA—to 2,390 mln rubles. The financial statement audit was performed by KPMG Limited.

The revenue growth resulted from a significant increase in the Company’s key performance indicators. The total coal production exceeded the level of the previous year by 37.6%, and amounted to 4,651,000 tons. Growth of steam coal production reached 60%, whereas that of metallurgical coal amounted to 20%. The volume of metallurgical coal concentrate sales increased in 2007 by 18.3%, as compared to the previous year, to reach 2,983,000 tons. The sales volume of steam coal was 2,282,000 tons, which is 41.2% more than the respective indicator of 2006. The sales volume of steel mill products increased by 11.3% to amount to 314,000 tons.
Such production growth became possible due to the large-scale investment program of Belon Group, aimed at the modernization of the existing coal production and preparation enterprises, and at the construction of new production facilities. The total investment in the production development amounted to 6.4 billion rubles.
The revenue growth was facilitated by the market situation and increase in prices for the types of products manufactured by the Company.
The difference of 48% between the net profit realized in 2007 and that realized in 2006 was mainly attributed to taking account of the data on revaluation of the acquired assets of the Novaya-2 mine in the financial results of 2006. The 2007 indicators were slightly affected by the escalation of costs stemming from the increase in external borrowings required for the implementation of the investment program.