Orzeł Biały Group, Polish producer of refined lead and lead alloys with international reach, generated revenues of PLN 324.8 million in the first half of 2017, compared to PLN 241.1 million in the corresponding period of the previous year, up 34.7%. y-o-y, which is mainly caused by the increase in LME lead prices and the increase in the sales volumes.
- Group EBITDA (operating profit before depreciation/amortisation) in the first half of 2017 amounted to PLN 14.8 million, up 17.5% y-o-y. Net profit amounted to 6.3 million PLN as compared to PLN 6.1 million of the after-tax profit figure a year ago.
- Operating profit amounted to PLN 10 million, up 23.5% versus the corresponding period of the previous year.
- In the area of core operations, the volume of lead sold in the first half of 2017 amounted to 33.8 thousand mt, up 10.5% y-o-y.
The higher gross margin on sales had an impact on the increase in the EBITDA ratio as well as on the operating profit. Additionally, the balance of adjustments to the value of raw-materials inventory (write-downs) at the end of the reporting period positively affected the result as costs went down by PLN 1,844,000, while in the first half of 2016 this process had a negligible impact on the level of costs of products sold. In the reporting period, the share of outsourced lead to raffinates manufactured accounted for 32%, while in the corresponding period of the previous year the share figure was 22%.
“The first half of 2017, in comparison to the previous year, generated higher revenues due to higher sales volume and high lead prices on LME. At the same time, lower availability of battery scrap on the market translated into a less-favourable structure of the raw material inputs to the raffinates“, says Michael Rohde Pedersen, President of the Management Board of Orzeł Biały S.A.
Net profit was reported at PLN 6.3 million, up 3.3% versus the figure realised in the corresponding period of the previous year. A slight increase in profit numbers stems mainly from the loss recorded on financial activities recorded in the reporting period which was higher than in the previous year, a consequence of a greater exposure to external financing of current operations.
“In conclusion, the results achieved confirm the stable growth and efficiency of our plant, although they are not yet fully satisfactory. On the production and selling side, we had been observing a positive trend since the beginning of the year as high sales volumes were continuously growing compounded by growing share of higher value-added lead alloys. On the purchasing side, we had been coping with a highly volatile an difficult-to-predict raw material market which affected the Group’s performance. As regards further increase in the Company’s value, we started cooperating with ING Bank N.V. London as a financial advisory to consider various strategic alternative growth options in all business areas of the Company. We expect such measures to ultimately improve our competitive edge and, consequently, to add value to our shareholders” – says Michael Rohde Pedersen, President of the Management Board of Orzeł Biały S.A.
