OREANDA-NEWS. Uralkali (LSE: URKA, “the Company”), one of the world's largest potash producers, has today published its audited financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2013 prepared in accordance with IFRS and audited by ZAO PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit.

H1 2013 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS1:

Net Revenue2 down 29% y-o-y to USD 1,348 million

EBITDA3 down 40% y-o-y USD 876 million

EBITDA margin4 down to 65%

Net Profit down 53% y-o-y USD 397 million

Cash COGS down 3% to USD 58 per tonne

H1 2013 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS1:

Production down 7% y-o-y to 4.5 million tonnes of potassium chloride (KCl)

Sales volumes down 17% y-o-y to 4.3 million tonnes of KCl

Average FCA export price down 17% to USD 316 per tonne of KCl

Strategic capacity development on track, with stage one of Ust-Yayvinsky mine construction completed

CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS:

Announcement of decision to focus Uralkali production and route to market, with streamlining of exports through Uralkali Trading SA

Dividend payout ratio for 2012 c.50%

Implementation of the share buyback programme between 13 November 2012 and 29 July 2013, with shares to the amount of USD 1,251 million subject to cancellation

Viktor Belyakov, Uralkali CFO and acting CEO, commented:

“Potash market in H1 2013 was a challenging period characterised by intensifying competition for market share. This prevented Uralkali from achieving optimum penetration and revenues even in the markets where demand was very healthy. Uralkali primarily maintained its traditional disciplined approach to sales and consequently the Company ceded some of its market share, which resulted in decreased capacity utilisation, sales volumes and income. As a consequence of what we felt was a likely confirmation of these market trends at the end of July Uralkali announced a prioritisation of targeting maximum efficient capacity utilisation, and streamlining all export sales through its own trading arm to achieve the best revenues.

Uralkali is well-positioned to maintain its market share in a competitive environment. We remain the industry leader in terms of production costs, and have clear geographic advantages and ability to sustain and further expand our capacity. With this in mind, we are continuing with our expansion programme. Debottlenecking is on track and through the targeted streamlining this is expected to deliver us one million tonnes of additional capacity by the end of next year. Moreover, we are proceeding with the Ust-Yayvinsky project which will help to compensate for the depleting capacity of Berezniki-2 mine. Combined we feel that our positioning and focus provide the basis for continuing to deliver results for shareholders and we look to the medium term future with confidence.”