OREANDA-NEWS. AVTOVAZ Group increased its consolidated revenues by 22% to 225.6 billion rubles by the end of 2017. During the reporting period, the company showed significantly more favorable financial results than in the last few years. Operating margin (operating margin) was 1.6 billion rubles (0.7% of revenue). Moreover, a positive free cash flow was provided and part of the debt obligations in the amount of 12.6 billion rubles was repaid, informs the press service of AVTOVAZ.

As noted, the financial situation improved not only due to positive trends in the Russian car market and favorable dynamics of exchange rates, but also due to excellent indicators of commercial and production activity. Thus, the targets under the long-term plan to achieve positive operating results in 2018 were shown in a shorter timeframe. The net profit of AVTOVAZ Group remains negative (-9.7 billion rubles). This is mainly due to the costs of restructuring, maintenance of a still high debt load, as well as a one-time write-off in one of the joint ventures.

In 2017, 311,588 new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles LADA were sold on the Russian market, which is more by 17% than in the previous year. The share of LADA in the Russian market (cars and LCV) increased by 1 pp. - up to 19.5% (and up to 20.5% in the segment of cars).

In 2017, AVTOVAZ Group increased shipments of LADA cars and assembly kits for export (+ 44.5%), including the start of delivery to new markets - China, Cuba, and Jordan. By planning its activities in 2018, the AVTOVAZ Group stresses the persistence of risks that could adversely affect commercial and financial activities. To neutralize the impact of these factors, the company continues to implement a cost optimization plan and upgrade the LADA range.