OREANDA-NEWS . September 4, 2012. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) has issued the full version of its rating report on Ukraine-based crop producer and trader, Ukrainian Agrarian Investments S.A. (UAI). The report includes UAI’s financials for 2010-2011, which had not been publicly available before. S&P assigned a B/Stable long-term corporate credit rating to UAI in July this year.

According to the audited financials, in 2011, UAI’s net income increased 82.8% YoY to USD 47.8mn, and revenues nearly doubled to USD 151.3mn from USD 78.8mn in 2010. EBITDA increased to USD 65.4mn, from USD 36.5mn a year earlier.

S&P believes UAI benefits from its lease rights to high-quality farmland, low production costs and a currently favourable trading environment (in terms of pricing and demand) for its crops.

In addition to country-specific risks associated with all Ukrainian businesses, S&P concludes that UAI faces financial risks related to the seasonality of the agricultural business and its expansion programme.

UAI expects to generate more than 50% of its sales this year from corn; up to 20% from sunflower seeds, oil, and meal; and 15% from wheat. The company estimates that it sells about 30% of production domestically and 70% internationally, including in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

S&P expects UAI to realise significant sales and profit growth through the financial year to 31 December 2012. The rating agency forecasts that UAI's substantial trading gains will be only moderately offset by higher land lease costs and lower value-added tax (VAT) retention.

Ukrainian Agrarian Investments (UAI) is a large-scale farming business located in Ukraine and founded in 2005 by financial investors led by Moscow-based Renaissance Group. UAI’s leased land portfolio stands at 240,000 ha; the company consists of 62 farms and five grain silos employing over 900 people in 16 regions of Ukraine with the number of employees growing to over 2,000 in the high season.