Moscow – At its meeting today, the Board of Directors of PhosAgro (“Company”, “Group”, MOEX, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, noted the Company’s successful progress in implementing its strategy to 2025 and discussed the Company’s financial statements for 1Q 2021.
Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro’s CEO and a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, reported on implementation of the strategy to 2025 approved in March 2019:
“We enjoyed a strong first quarter of 2021 in terms of both production and sales volumes. We achieved yet another record, producing 2.6 million tonnes of fertilizers and feed phosphates, up 2.3% year-on-year.
“This result was made possible thanks to the consistent efforts by PhosAgro’s entire workforce to implement the Company’s strategy to 2025. At the foundation of the strategy is a commitment to the continuous improvement of our operational efficiency and growth in fertilizer production while maintaining our commitment to ESG leadership.
“In the context of achieving these goals, we are building a state-of-the-art mineral fertilizer production complex in the city of Volkhov. In April, the first phase of the new plant – production lines with a nameplate capacity of 300 thousand tonnes of MAP per year – was put into operation. Once the project is complete, the new units at the production site will have a total capacity of almost 900 thousand tonnes, which will provide the basis for the Group’s long-term operational growth.
“In addition to the report on implementation of the strategy to 2025, the Board of Directors was also informed about progress regarding the Company’s further development for the period up to 2030. These include ambitious goals and large-scale projects, the implementation of which will enable PhosAgro’s sustained growth while maintaining its status as an industry leader. It is important that environmental initiatives are prioritised as part of these projects. Some of them will be included in an updated version of the strategy to 2025 that will be submitted for the Board of Directors’ consideration by the end of this year.”
Board members, led by Chairman Xavier Rolet, thanked the PhosAgro workforce for their efficient work and strict adherence to preventive measures in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following a discussion of the interim consolidated IFRS financial statements for 1Q 2021, which will be disclosed tomorrow, 19 May 2021, and of information on the financial results for the same period, the Board of Directors recommended that an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders approve the payment of dividends in the amount of RUB 13.5975 billion, or RUB 105 per share (or RUB 35 per global depositary receipt) from retained net earnings as of 31 March 2021.
The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders that will consider this issue will be held on 22 June 2021 by absentee ballot. The Board of Directors recommended setting 5 July 2021 as the record date for shareholders eligible to receive dividends.
The Board meeting also heard a report on PhosAgro’s measures to comply with regulatory requirements in terms of occupational health and safety at production facilities in 2020, the key aspects of efforts to protect the cybersecurity of production facilities and the results of monitoring the management of the Company’s key risks in 1Q 2021.
The Board also heard information about PhosAgro’s work concerning compliance with environmental requirements, environmental safety and energy efficiency in 2020.
The Board of Directors approved a new version of PhosAgro’s Internal Audit Policy and took under advisement information from the chairs of the Board committees on their respective work in 1Q 2021. The Board of Directors also reviewed a report on the Company’s implementation of legislative provisions regarding the safeguarding and sharing of insider information.