OREANDA-NEWS. Kernel Holding S.A. announced operations update for three months ended 31 March 2013.

Production, sales and throughput:

Volume and tonnage

Q3 FY2013(1)

Q3 FY2012(2)

yoy

Grain sales, tons

653 745

831 559

-21.4%

Bulk oil sales, tons

162 976

224 590

-27.4%

Bottled oil sales, '000 liters

23 153

29 274

-20.9%

Sunflower seed crush, tons

679 311

730 561

-7.0%

Refined oil production, tons

26 274

30 441

-13.7%

Bottled oil production, tons

25 166

28 861

-12.8%

Export terminals throughput, tons

625 623(3)

595 235

5.1%

(1) Three months ended 31 March 2013

(2) Three months ended 31 March 2012

(3) Including 33,955 tons trans-shipped through Taman port, which represents 50% of the total throughput volume of the Taman facility. Taman port is owned through a 50%-50% joint venture between Kernel Holding S.A. and a subsidiary of Glencore International Plc.

Key highlights:

• The 21.4% yoy decline in grain sales in Q3 FY2013 reflects the normalization of grain export seasonality in the 2012/13 marketing season towards higher shipments in the first months after the harvest. 9M FY2013 grain sales increased 20.8% yoy.

• The 27.4% yoy decrease in bulk oil sales in Q3 FY2013 was due to the significant amount of contracts with delivery terms in Q4 FY2013. 9M FY2013 bulk oil sales increased 32.0% yoy and are in line with production levels.

• Export terminal volumes increased 5.1% yoy in Q3 FY2013 as a result of a higher share of the company's grain sales shipped through its own terminals compared to the previous year. 9M FY2013 export terminal volumes increased 78.1% yoy to 2.6 million tons.

Corporate:

• In early April, Kernel Holding S.A. entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire an 80% interest in a farming business that manages 108 000 hectares of leasehold farmland and operates 100 000 tons of grain storage capacity. With a highly concentrated and fully-farmed land bank in the southern Chernihiv and Sumy regions and the northern Poltava region, the business is self-sufficient in working capital and is fully-equipped with modern farming machinery.

FY 2013 outlook:

• Although Q4 FY2013 volumes and results are expected to be better than Q3 FY2013, full-year bulk oil sales and sunflower seed crushing volumes should be lower than initially anticipated.

• Based on 9M FY2013 results, management now expects full-year EBITDA and net income to be moderately below earlier guided figures.

Selected average commodity prices, USD /t

3 months ended 31 March

2013

2012

yoy

Sunflower oil, Ukraine FOB, Black Sea

1 156

1 134

1.9%

Wheat, Ukraine FOB, Black Sea

343

258

33.0%

Corn, Ukraine FOB, Black Sea

292

258

13.1%

Barley, Ukraine FOB, Black Sea

314

262

19.8%

Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the 3 months ended 31 March 2013 will be published after the market close on 30 May 2013.