OREANDA-NEWS.   FESCO Transportation Group (MICEX-RTS: FESH) provides a trading update with consolidated financial and operational results for the three month and nine month periods ended September 30, 2013.
Highlights:

Steady improvement in Company financial performance in 3Q2013 compared to 2Q and 1Q2013. The Port Division performed particularly strongly, recording its highest quarterly EBITDA for 3Q2013. In 9M2013, Port Division EBITDA increased by 11.0% y-o-y driven by growing volumes of container cargo handling
Rail container transportation volumes were up 5.7% in 9M2013 reaching 209.8 thousand TEUs. The volume growth was above market owing to an increased number of block trains operated by the Group and an increased fleet of fitting platforms. Nevertheless, Rail Division results continued to be depressed by decreased average income per railcar across the market, particularly for gondolas, and the overall weakness of rail market environment
Due to mixed divisional performance in 9M2013 consolidated Group revenue decreased by 4.8% to USD 849.6m and Group EBITDA decreased by 13.3% to USD 152.4m. Since the beginning of 2013, FESCO has acquired two ice-class fuel efficient vessels, and chartered in another two vessels of the same class, to strengthen positions on cabotage lines
FESCO launched two new regular sea container services from North America to St. Petersburg and Novorossiysk/Sochi

Group Operational Results

Port Division

In 9M2013, import container cargo throughput grew to 152.6 thousand TEUs (up 9.1% y-o-y), export container cargo throughput grew to 118.5 thousand TEUs (up 1.5% y-o-y), and cabotage container cargo throughput decreased by 4.8% to 78.3 thousand TEUs. Cabotage cargo throughput volumes have shown positive trends during 2013 growing from 21.4 thousand TEUs in 1Q2013 to 26.4 thousand TEUs in 2Q2013 and 30.5 thousand TEUs in 3Q2013.

Automobiles and transportation vehicles throughput increased by 9.7% amounting to 70.3 thousand units. Non-container cargo throughput (excluding vehicles) declined by 37.4% to 1.5 mln tons driven by the reduction in export volumes of ferrous metals and coke.

Rail Division

In 9M2013, rail container transportation volumes were up 5.7% y-o-y reaching 209.8 thousand TEUs. The volume growth was above market owing to an increased number of block trains operated by the Group and an increased fleet of fitting platforms. In 9M2013, the number of block trains increased by 39% y-o-y. The average number of block trains per week increased from 15 in 9M2012 to 21 in 9M2013.

Rail cargo load decreased by 17.0% to 15.3 million tons owing to Russia’s soft rail transportation market, as well as the reduction in the average transportation speed within the RZhD network. Rail cargo turnover grew by 10.2% y-o-y due to growth in the average transportation distance.

Liner and Logistics and Shipping Divisions

In 9M2013, intermodal freight transportation volumes rose by 18.7% y-o-y to 179.6 thousand TEUs. Bilateral sea container trade volumes reached 273.9 thousand TEUs, an increase of 7.0% y-o-y. The Group continues to add to the list of destinations serviced by its global network. In September and October 2013, FESCO launched two new regular sea container services from North America to St. Petersburg and Novorossiysk/Sochi.

In 9M2013, the volume of domestic sea container transportation declined by 9.6% y-o-y to 46.3 thousand TEUs due increased competition. To strengthen its competitive positions, FESCO added four ice class general cargo vessels to its shipping fleet — Pevek and Posyet were acquired in 1H2013, and FESCO Pioneer and FESCO Partizan were chartered in during September 2013. The first two vessels started servicing FESCO cabotage lines in the middle of 3Q2013, which drove part of our domestic sea container transportation growth. FESCO Malakhit and FESCO Azurit will be deployed later in the year.

As of September 30, 2013 the Group operated a fleet of 26 vessels deployed through the FESCO sea service lines and 4 ice-breakers leased-in under long-term contracts.

Group Financial Results
Revenue and EBITDA have continued to recover steadily each quarter during 2013 since 1Q2013’s relatively weak performance. Consolidated revenue increased from USD 275.3m in 1Q2013 to USD 292.0m in 3Q2013. Consolidated EBITDA grew from USD 48.1m in 1Q2013 to USD 53.0m in 3Q2013.

In 9M2013, Group consolidated revenue declined by 4.8% y-o-y to USD 849.6m and Group consolidated EBITDA decreased by 13.3% y-o-y to USD 152.4m on the back of the challenging rail market environment in 2013. The Group’s EBITDA margin decreased by 1.8 pt to 17.9%.

EBITDA by division:

Port Division

In 2Q2013 and 3Q2013 the Port Division was the major contributor to the Group EBITDA. In 3Q2013, EBITDA margin increased compared to both 2Q2013 and 3Q2012 by 7.1pt and 2.3pt respectively. In 9M2013, EBITDA increased by 11.0% y-o-y driven by growing volumes of container cargo handling. EBITDA margin decreased from 51.2% in 9M2012 to 49.2% in 9M2013 due to the higher proportion of low margin cargo in the Group’s cargo mix following the consolidation of VMTP in 1Q2012

Rail Division

EBITDA decreased by 44.8% from USD 133.2m in 9M2012 to USD 73.5m in 9M2013. Although FESCO has outperformed the market in the container segment, which continued to grow during 2013, the decrease in general cargo volumes has negatively affected the divisional results along with the fall in average income per railcars seen across the market, particularly for gondolas. EBITDA margin decreased from 49.6% in 9M2012 to 37.0% in 9M2013

Liner and Logistics Division

EBITDA decreased by 21.0% from USD 33.3m in 9M2012 to USD 26.3m in 9M2013 owing to decreasing freight rates
In the Shipping Division, EBITDA remains negative improving from negative USD 4.1m in 2Q2013 to negative USD 1.5m in 3Q2013

Bunkering

Beginning 3Q2013, Bunkering is reported as a separate business segment with revenue of USD 34.5m and EBITDA of USD 1.6m in 3Q2013
Pro-forma net debt decreased in 3Q2013 versus 2Q2013 (USD 947m versus USD 959m):

Consolidated debt includes USD 550m of 8.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2018 and USD 325m of 8.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2020 in May 2013, as well as RUB 5bn (c. USD 153m) of bonds, the proceeds from which were used to refinance the Group’s acquisition-related and pre-existing debt

As of September 30, 2013, Pro-forma Net Debt / LTM adjusted EBITDA ratio was 4.4x

Ruslan Alikhanov, FESCO President and CEO commented:

"Our Port Division demonstrated outstanding performance during the reporting period recording a record high for quarterly EBITDA, thus becoming the major strategic contributor to Group EBITDA. Although the continuing weakness in the rail industry affected the Group’s results, we continue to proactively address the unfavorable trends witnessed in the market, allowing the Group to outperform the market. In addition, we are actively considering certain areas for growth in ancillary businesses, such as bunkering".