Ljubljana, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 – The SIJ Group has successfully concluded the issuance of corporate bonds in the amount of 51 million euros
With today's payments SIJ – Slovenian Steel Group, d. d., has successfully concluded the process of issuing 5-year bonds in the total amount of 51 million euros with an annual interest rate of 4.00%. The SIJ Group, which has significantly improved its profitability, will allocate financial resources to the diversification of long-term financing arrangements and to ensuring a new investment cycle in the period to 2020. The investment cycle provides further optimization of the company's product mix, an increase in the production of steel products with a higher added value, and further specialization in niche products and in finished products markets.
After its first bond issue in the amount of 43 million euros in autumn 2014, and its issuance of commercial papers in the amount of 20 million euros in March 2015, this is the third time that the SIJ Group has been successful on the capital market, raising more than 110 million euros of new sources of funding in less than one year. This makes the SIJ Group one of the most active and recognizable companies on the domestic capital market.
On completion of the issuing process the President of the Management Board, Mr. Anton Chernykh, emphasized that ‘’this time as well, the issuance proves our commitment to developing in the direction of becoming a public limited company. Furthermore, it shows the strong trust of the leading Slovenian and international institutional investors in the stability of our business model and the Group’s good financial profile.''
Special mention should be made of the fact that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) participated in this issuance. The bank invested 8.5 million euros which represents 17% of the entire issuance, making it the first instance of collaboration in bond issuance between the EBRD and Slovene issuers. The head of EBRD’s representation in Slovenia, Ms. Jolanta Gabriel, said that ''We are impressed with the efforts SIJ is making to be at the forefront of the specialised steel market. The investment programme will enable the company to extend its leadership in high value-added steel products”.
Before the issuance forecasts on the possible amount of raised funds were hovering around 30 to 50 million euros, which the company exceeded. Mr. Igor Malevanov, a member of the board and CFO of SIJ, said that
''considering the extremely unfavorable external conditions dominating international capital markets at the time of issuing, this was a very successful issuance.''
All the activities necessary to organize the selling and issuing of the bonds were carried out by Alta Skupina d. d., Alta Invest d. d. and NLB, d. d. In this way the bonds were mainly offered to qualified investors. After the issuance of bonds in KDD – Central Securities Clearing Corporation - the issuer will draw up a prospectus and afterwards, once the prospectus is confirmed by ATVP - Securities Market Agency, it will place these on the regulated market of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
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The SIJ Group is the largest Slovenian vertically integrated metallurgical group and as such occupies a leading position in niche steel markets in Europe and worldwide. The Group comprises 5 business areas, 22 subsidiaries in Europe and in the USA and has around 3,200 employees.
In 2014 the SIJ Group recorded revenues of 707.8 million euros, which represents a 7% growth compared to 2013. The Group also recorded a significant growth in profitability, with its operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rising by 91% and reaching 77.8 million euros. The 11% EBITDA margin made the SIJ Group one of the world's most successful steel groups in 2014. The Group's operating profit (EBIT) was 39.6 million euros, growing 18-fold compared to 2013. Meanwhile net profit was nearly 25 million euros.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Denis Mancevič, Director of Corporate Communications
Email: denis.mancevic@sij.si
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