Moscow - The Board of Directors of PhosAgro, one of the world’s leading producers of phosphate-based fertilizers, heard a report from Andrey Guryev on the results of his work as the Company’s CEO and on his plans for the medium term. Members of the Board of Directors noted PhosAgro’s considerable progress in all key areas of the Company’ operations.
In his report to the Board of Directors, Andrey Guryev highlighted the following:
- Over the previous seven years, PhosAgro’s production of agrochemical products increased by over 60%, from 5.9 million tonnes in 2013 to 9.5 million tonnes in 2019;
- The Company has been generating stable profits and a high EBITDA margin, which increased from 23% in 2013 to 31% in 2019;
- Over the same period, EBITDA increased from RUB 23.9 billion to RUB 75.6 billion.
Mr Guryev also highlighted PhosAgro’s major breakthroughs in corporate social responsibility:
- The Company earmarks more than RUB 2.5 billion for the implementation of social programmes every year;
- More than RUB 9 billion was allocated in 2019 for projects related to environmental protection; the Company has one of the most state-of-the-art and most efficient treatment plants in the industry;
- Sustainable development is one of the priorities outlined in PhosAgro’s Development Strategy to 2025. The UN has recognised the Company’s success in this area: last autumn, PhosAgro was one of 36 companies from around the world granted LEAD status within the UN Global Compact, an international platform for socially responsible business;
- The Company established a Sustainable Development Committee under its Board of Directors. The Committee is chaired by Irina Bokova, a former Director-General of UNESCO.
“Even under the challenging conditions brought on by the pandemic, PhosAgro continues its steady development, while also implementing full-fledged production and investment programmes. Not only has the Company not reduced its workforce, but it has already created 200 additional jobs since the beginning of the year, mainly as part of the project for the construction of a new plant at the Volkhov production complex. The production of mineral fertilizers and feed phosphates in the first half of 2020 increased by almost 7% year-on-year, while sales of finished products increased 10%, reaching 5.2 million tonnes. Sales to our priority Russian market grew by 11.2%.
“Our excellent operating and financial performance are the result of concerted efforts on the part of miners from Kirovsk; chemists from Cherepovets, Balakovo and Volkhov; and senior management. Thanks to a range of effective proactive preventive measures and the responsible approach taken by our employees, we managed to maintain the uninterrupted operation of our production facilities and, most importantly, the health of our workforce.
“Our employees’ team spirit and professionalism and our production output, which is unique in terms of its environmental performance and which easily meets the most stringent international requirements for concentrations of harmful impurities, have enabled us to achieve ambitious goals, to implement large-scale investment programmes, to consistently generate cash flow and to pay out considerable dividends in a balanced manner, while implementing new social and charitable projects,” the PhosAgro CEO noted during his speech.
Xavier Rolet, Chairman of PhosAgro’s Board of Directors, said: “The Board of Directors wishes to commend the Company’s achievements under the leadership of Andrey A. Guryev and his Management Team as well as the dedication of its employees all over the world.
The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the resilience of businesses everywhere. The strength and resilience of the operating and financial results delivered by PhosAgro PJSC during this trying period demonstrates once again that the Company’s corporate governance is effective and that the range of preventative measures introduced do match or indeed exceed best international practice. In this regard, we remain hopeful that the considerable efforts dedicated to securing a vaccine in Russia and elsewhere around the world will help speed up the worldwide recovery from this awful pandemic. The Members of the Board very much hope to be able to renew in person with the tradition of celebrating Miner’s Day together with PhosAgro’s workforce in 2021.”
The Board of Directors took note of information about the Company’s innovative development and management in response to the crisis, the results of monitoring key risk management in the first half of 2020, and the Company’s work on international projects and with investors during the period from August 2019 to July 2020. Information from the chairs of the Board of Directors committees on the work of their respective committees for the second quarter of 2020 was also noted.
The Board of Directors also recommended that an extraordinary meeting of shareholders approve a dividend payment in the amount of RUB 4.2735 billion, or RUB 33 per ordinary share (RUB 11 per global depositary receipt) from the Company’s retained net profit as of 30 June 2020. This recommendation was made following the Board’s discussion of information on the Company’s financial results for the first half of 2020, including its interim consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS, which are scheduled to be disclosed tomorrow, 28 August 2020.
The extraordinary meeting of shareholders will be held on 30 September 2020 in the form of absentee voting; the record date for the meeting is 7 September 2020. It was recommended that the shareholders meeting approve 15 October 2020 as the record date for eligibility to receive dividends.
The Board of Directors also approved a new version of the Company’s Regulation on Insider Information; recognised that its independent members were in compliance with the independence criteria established by the Regulation on PhosAgro’s Board of Directors, the Corporate Governance Code recommended by the Bank of Russia for use by joint-stock companies and the Moscow Exchange Listing Rules; and determined the fee for the services of the Company’s auditor in accordance with RAS.