OREANDA-NEWS. On 23 June 2009 Acron (RTS, MICEX and LSE: AKRN) announced its consolidated unaudited IFRS results for Q1 2009.

IFRS Financial Results for Q1 2009

• The Group’s revenues slipped 19% year-on-year to RUR 9.43 billion, against RUR 11.66 billion in Q1 2008.

• EBITDA* totalled RUR 2.61 billion, down 52% year-on-year (Q1 2008: RUR 5.48 billion).

• EBITDA margin was recorded at 28%, against 47% in Q1 2008.

• Net loss came to RUR 849 million, including net loss on foreign currency exchange rates of RUR 2.23 billion, against net profit recorded in Q1 2008 of RUR 3.96 billion.

*EBITDA is calculated as operating profit plus depreciation and amortisation.

Operating Results for Q1 2009

• Ammonia and mineral fertiliser sales totalled 1.2 million tonnes (by volume). Ammonia sales in Q1 2009 were up 9% year-on-year and straight nitrogen fertilisers demonstrated 34% growth, while complex fertiliser sales fell 10%.

Alexander Popov, the Chair of Acron’s Board of Directors commented on the Group’s performance:

“We showed excellent operating performance for Q1 2009. Overall, we built up our output and sales of our nitrogen fertilisers were up almost 30%.

“The Group’s financial performance was influenced by macroeconomic pressures in Russia and abroad. In early Q1 2009, the rouble depreciated drastically against foreign currency. While this allowed the Group to sustain its operational margin at an acceptable level, the weaker rouble also pushed up the cost of the Group’s foreign currency loans. As a result, we incurred a loss on foreign currency exchange rates of RUR 2.2 billion (mostly on non-cash items), which resulted in a net loss for the quarter. We believe that the rouble exchange rate will stabilize and the effect of currency fluctuations will not be significant.”