Petrokemija is probing interest for new shares

Kutinska Petrokemija announced today a call to its shareholders to express indicative interest in subscribing for new shares in a potential recapitalization process of the company amounting to 150 to 200 million kuna.

In order to stabilize the financial position of Petrokemija and finance the restructuring program approved at the Supervisory Board meeting on April 29 of this year, the Kutina fertilizer factory is considering a capital increase of 150 to 200 million kuna, as stated in the call published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange.

– The expressed interest is exclusively indicative in nature and in no way binding for shareholders, but is primarily intended for the Management Board in the most efficient and rapid process of capital raising. Therefore, such expression of interest is not considered a public offering in the sense of the Capital Market Act – emphasize from Petrokemija.

Shareholders are invited to express their interest in absolute amounts in kuna or relative amounts concerning the level of existing investment, and the price in the potential recapitalization process will depend on market conditions at the time of issuance.

According to the expressed interest, Petrokemija will provide all essential information about the potential capital increase in the call for the general assembly, which, in accordance with legal regulations, must be approved by shareholders representing at least three-quarters of the share capital represented at the general assembly, states the call to Petrokemija shareholders.

The largest individual shareholder of Petrokemija is the state, which, according to the latest data from the Central Clearing Depository Company (SKDD), owns 50.63 percent of the company’s shares, while pension funds (Erste Plavi, PBZ CO, AZ, and AZ Profit) hold nearly 17 percent of the shares.

According to previously published data, the Kutina fertilizer factory operated with a business loss of 187.2 million kuna last year, which is explained by a significant difference in the increase of revenues and expenses, due to a sharp rise in natural gas prices. Namely, total revenues of Petrokemija last year increased by 2 percent, to 3.03 billion kuna, while expenses simultaneously grew by 12.4 percent, to 3.2 billion kuna.

Petrokemija also recorded a loss in the first three months of this year, amounting to 54.8 million kuna, which is significantly higher compared to the first quarter of last year, when the loss was 3.1 million kuna. This is a consequence of lower sales in the domestic and regional markets due to unfavorable weather conditions for spring planting, which increased fixed costs. An additional negative impact on operations in the first quarter of 2013 was also caused by expenditures for the annual overhaul of the mineral fertilizer production plant, which was carried out in January, and the impact of part of the carried-over inventory from 2012, Petrokemija previously announced.