OREANDA-NEWS. May 19, 2010. Landkom International (AIM: LKI LN) announced yesterday that it planted 18,584 ha in its spring planting campaign, 38% more crops yoy. Of this crop, 18,109 ha represents cash crops for sale, with the remainder representing crops to be used in the group’s livestock business as feed. Landkom planted 7,875 ha with maize, 3,522 ha with spring wheat, 2,985 ha with sunflower and 2,980 ha with soybean. Landkom planted 21,383 ha with winter crops in summer and autumn 2009. Landkom said it expected its harvesting operations to commence in the southern region of Ukraine by the end of June.

Concorde Capital: The successful ending of spring planting goes in line with management’s October 2009 guidance and represents the first steps toward a change in Landkom’s business model from mainly a rapeseed producer to a diversified crop grower. This said, we are waiting for the first financial results stemming from this change as the company’s historically low operating efficiency is likely to continue challenging Landkom in 2010.