Cherkizovo posts FY 2009 net income of $120.2 million

Leading Russian meat producer, Cherkizovo Group, has posted a FY 2009 net income of $120.2 million under US GAAP.

The bottom line is up from a FY 2008 net income of $78.1 million, with FY 2009 adjusted EBITDA rising 19% to $181.5 million, as dollar denominated revenues fell 12% to $1.022 billion.

Cherkizovo noted the impact of currency movements on the results, with rouble denominated revenues up 12%, rouble denominated adjusted EBITDA up 52% and rouble denominated net income up 96%.

Cherkizovo Group CEO, Sergey Mikhailov hailed the group’s performance in a difficult economy, and pointed to the completion of the Vertunovka parent stock facility at the Penza production cluster, and two major projects to increase poultry output by 40% expected to come online in 2012. He added that the poultry division had played a key role in the company’s improved results, with the pork division seeing a 38% increase in production volumes, helping to offset pressure on meat sales volumes.

“For the current year, we remain cautious about the effects of continuing pressure on Russian consumption, however, we expect the pricing environment to remain broadly favorable for Cherkizovo’s products throughout the year. Russia still remains the biggest importer of meat in the world and the Russian government is targeting a substantial reduction in imports by 2012, which presents significant opportunities for Cherkizovo as the leading domestic producer. The Company will continue to leverage the benefits of improving efficiency and increasing capacity, particularly in our higher margin Pork and Poultry businesses, to take advantage of the opportunities in the market and M&A opportunities, and we remain confident that we will continue to deliver against our strategy in the course of the financial year.”