13 June 2022

 

Steppe Cement Ltd

 

CEO STATEMENT

 

Kazakhstan has experienced a boom in construction and cement consumption towards the end of the pandemic mostly due to government incentives. Our factory continued to perform and we managed to initiate various internal capital projects that will allow us to increase the production volumes in the coming years.

 

The construction sector grew very fast in 2021 and the financial markets remained fairly stable. The stability was subsequently shatered in early 2022 with internal political upheaveal starting in West and Southern Kazakshtan and the subsequent events in Ukraine in February 2022. Although the cement market remains strong in 2022, the uncertainty is likely to continue during the remaining months of the year. The management will continue a conservative financial and investment policy. 

 

In 2021, Steppe Cement posted a net profit of USD17 million while the EBITDA increased to USD31.5 million  from USD24.2 million in 2020 mostly due to bigger volumes and 13% higher prices in KZT. The increase of cost of production was contained and the devaluation was limited to only 3% for the year.

 

The overall domestic cement market increased by 23% to 11.6 million tonnes. Our sales volume increased by 3%. Local sales increased by 11% while exports decreased by 57% as we focused on the domestic market.

 

The increase of the market is attributable mostly to the government decision that allowed individuals to use a portion of their pensions to buy or improve properties or for health reason as part of the estimulus of the Covid pandemic. It is estimated that around USD6 billion have been taken from the pension fund system since the beginning of the program in 2020. This represents around 20% of the USD30 billion currently in the national pension fund.

 

Steppe Cement operated both lines at 87% of their current combined capacity (which is 1.1 million tonnes for line 5 and 0.85 million tonnes for line 6).

 

Shareholders' funds increased to USD65.5 million from USD57.9 million after dividend distribution to shareholders. The replacement cost of the Company's assets remains many times higher than their current book value.

 

Key financials	Year ended 31- Dec-21	Year ended 31- Dec-20	Inc/(Dec)%
Sales (tonnes of cement)	1,688,544	1,645,744	3%
Consolidated turnover (KZT million)	36,020	30,958	16%
Consolidated turnover (USD million)	84.6	74.8	13%
Consolidated profit before tax (USD million)	21.4	13.1	63%
Consolidated profit after tax (USD million)	17.0	11.1	53%
Profit per share (US cents)	7.8	5.1	53%
Shareholders' funds (USD million)	65.5	57.9	13%
Average exchange rate (KZT/USD)	426	413	(3%)
Exchange rate as at year end (KZT/USD)	432	421	(3%)

 

The Kazakh cement market increased by 23% in 2021 and we expect 2022 to be at a similar level

 

The Kazakh cement market in 2021 increased to 11.6 million tonnes or 23% from 2020. Imports into Kazakshtan increased by 34% to 0.8 million tonnes equivalent to 7% of the total market, as shipping from Iran was resumed. Exports from local producers decreased by 19% to 1.6 million tonnes mostly to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Exports to Uzbekistan, concentrated in the Tashkent area, will continue to decline as the country commissions new facilities.

 

The market demand in 2022 continues to be strong. After a very strong first quarter we expect the market to stabilise. While we expect the construction driven by pension withdrawals to tapper off, oil prices are at near a historical high and government stimulus packages continue.

 

On the back of the market growth, Steppe Cement's average cement selling prices increased by 13% in KZT and 10% in USD, to USD50 per tonne delivered.

 

 

Production and costs

 

Line 5 produced 62% of total production, or 1,050,373 tonnes of cement while Line 6 produced 638,170. Line 5 performed at 95% capacity while Line 6 was limited by exceptional maintenance. In 2022 we will endeavor to keep the good performance of Line 5 and increase signicantly the production of clinker of Line 6. We intend to achieve production of 1.75 to 1.8 million tons. In addition to increases in clinker production, we intend to use more slag. This will bring a reduction in CO₂ emissions and lower costs.

Cost per tonne increased by 6% in KZT in line with inflation. The average cash production cost of clinker increased from USD19/tonne to USD20/tonne while cement cash cost increased from USD21.5/tonne to USD23/tonne in 2020 due to inflation in electricity and transportation.

Despite the increase of transportation costs, selling expenses, reflecting mostly cement delivery costs, were reduced to USD7.3/tonne as we focused in markets closer to the factory and reduced exports significantly.

 

Foreign exchange losses are now negligeable at USD0.2 million as we don't have USD denominated loans. Those are atributable mostly to the time difference between the purchase of consumable and capex materials throughout the year.

 

Other income of USD1.6 million reflects the write-back of receivables previously written down and the write-back of deferred income from the government subsidised loans.

 

The government has started to prepare the ground for a trading market in CO₂ emissions. They are following the European model of allocation to factories based on current production and eventually pushing towards reduction through investment in alternative fuels, technology or promoting cement with lower emisions. We will continue to upgrade our shareholders particularly if this policy has an impact in our operations.

 

General and administrative expenses

 

General and administrative expenses increased to USD6.7 million from USD6.2 million in 2020 in line with inflation.

 

Labor and Covid-19

 

On 31 March 2022 the labour count stood at 801 from 781 in 2021 as we have replaced certain subcontractors with our own staff. This policy will be constantly under revision as we evaluate the quality and pricing of the different subcontractors that become available in the region.

 

We didn't have any further covid deaths in 2021. All employees were offered voluntary vaccination and 75% of them took it. This compared favorably with the overall region and country statistics across all age groups. An employee of our subcontractors had a fatal accident in the factory and the subcontractor was terminated following an investigation.

 

Capital investment increased significantly in 2021 and the trend will continue in 2022

 

Capital investment was accelerated to USD6.2 million to compensate the slow down in investment during 2019 and 2020. Apart from the traditional maintenance capex and key spare purchasing in the region of USD2 million per year we managed to complete a significant number of projects and some of them will be continuing in 2022. The main investment completed during the year 2021 were:

-     Bag feeder automatisation to improve productivity

-     Coal mill gas duct size change to save power and increase production

-     Kiln 6 main gear drive replacement to improve reliability and reduce power consumption

-     New coal dosing system, to better control the feed to the preheater in line 6

-     Slag drying dedusting and automatisation to improve ecology and stability

-     XRF analyser for laboratory to increase clinker quality and stability

-     Acquisition of rail line connection to main train station to save transportation costs

-     Start of new separator for cement mill number 1

We have plans for further USD7 million investment in 2022 and the first half of 2023 including:

-     Complete the new separator for cement mill number 1 to increase slag content and cement production and to reduce electricity consumption

-     Start the new separator for cement mill number 2

-     Crane revamping as maintenance capex

-     Replacement of one reducer for cement mill as a key spare part

-     Two new cement mill motors as key spare parts

-     One new motor for preheater fan to reduce power consumption

-     Raw mill 3 separator revamp to increase production of line 6

-     Modifications to the line 6 preheater to increase production

-     Software upgrades to the control system to prevent obsolescency

-     Online monitoring of main stack emissions to improve ecology

-     Upgraded bag filters to improve ecology

 

We have obtained additional subsidised loans of USD4.5 million in KZT at 6% and we will use them in 2022 mostly for the cement mill separators.

 

 

Effects of application of IFRS 16 in the accounts

 

The application of IFRS 16 affect the accounting the rental of wagons that Steppe Cement does not own. Some wagons were rented for three years and the last year is 2022. The accounting standard requires to account for a new non-current asset called right-of-use assets evaluated in 2021 at USD1.7 million vs USD3.5 million in 2020 (the lease contracts have already been accounted for two years). The amount will be nearly eliminated in 2022 unless the rental contracts are renewed in a multi year basis and it may increase again depending on the renewal terms. The corresponding entries in the liabilities are called lease liabilities of USD2 million in 2021 vs USD3.9million in 2020.

 

The selling expenses have been reduced to USD12.3 million while the corresponding lease finance cost has been calculated at USD0.4 million increasing the financial expenses but less than in 2020 when they were increased by USD0.6 million.

 
Without IFRS 16 accounting, the finance expenses would have been USD0.7 million and the selling expenses USD13.6 million. Consequently, the profit before taxation has been  increased by USD1million.

 

The EBITDA increased due to the recognition of the depreciation of right of use assets. Without this depreciation, the EBITDA for 2021 would have been USD29.8 million.

 

Financial position: New debt has been limited to subsidied credit lines as interest rates in Kazakhstan have increased to 14% in 2022

 

During the year, our total loans outstanding were reduced from USD7 million to USD5.6 million, the majority of the loans have very favourable subsidized rates in KZT. The company ended the year with a net cash position of USD4.6 million, excluding IFRS 16 leases.

 

Long-term loans were reduced from USD2.4 million to USD1.9 million mostly due to repayment of subsidized loans.

 

Our short term loans and current part of the long term loans decreased from USD4.4 million in 2020 to USD3.6 million in 2021, while the cash position at the end of the year increased from USD8.2 million to USD10.1 million.

 

In 2021, finance costs decreased to USD1.09 million from USD1.25 million in 2020. Without operating lease interest of USD0.4 million under IFRS 16, the finance cost  was USD0.7 million of which USD0.4 million was interest on loans.

 

The KZT had a stable year against the USD, it fluctuated between 417 and 437 KZT/USD suffering only a 3% devaluation against the USD year on year. This is quite a contrast with the situation experienced in 2020 and the beginning of 2022 with significant political instability in Kazakhstan in January and in the CIS region from February. The average rate for the year was 426.

 

We maintain short term credit lines available as stand by:

-     KZT 1 billion short term in a government subsidized program in KZT at 6% p.a.

-     KZT 2 billion from Halyk Bank at 6% p.a. in USD or 14% in KZT.

-     KZT 0.9 billion from Altyn Bank at 14% p.a. in KZT.

 

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment increased slightly to USD7.1 million in 2021 due to the increased capex.

 

Steppe Cement's effective income tax rate was in line with the statutory rate of 20% in Kazakhstan.

 

 

 

Javier del Ser Perez
Chief Executive Officer

 

Annual Report and Annual General Meeting 

Steppe Cement will release its Annual Report 2021 on its web site at www.steppecement.com during the week commencing 13 June 2022.

The Company's Annual General Meeting is expected to take place at its Malaysian Office at Suite 10.1, 10th Floor, West Wing, Rohas Perkasa, 8 Jalan Perak, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on Wednesday, 13 July 2022 at 4 p.m.

 

Steppe Cement's AIM nominated adviser and broker is RFC Ambrian Limited.

Nominated Adviser contact: Stephen Allen or Andrew Thomson on +61 8 9480 2500.

Broker contact: Charlie Cryer at +44 20 3440 6800

 

 

 

STEPPE CEMENT LTD

(Incorporated in Labuan FT, Malaysia under the Labuan Companies Act, 1990)

 

STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

 

			The Group				The Company
			2021		2020		2021		2020
			USD		USD		USD		USD
Revenue			84,578,739		74,774,297		1,469,264		10,796,326
Cost of sales			(44,834,182)		(42,439,633)		-		-
Gross profit			39,744,557		32,334,664		1,469,264		10,796,326
Selling expenses			(12,264,221)		(12,966,168)		-		-
General and administrative
expenses			(6,761,722)		(6,225,928)		(324,207)		(311,871)
Interest income			401,619		199,332		-		934
Finance costs			(1,090,949)		(1,249,051)		-		-
Net foreign exchange loss			(227,951)		(808,977)		(825)		(3,981)
Other income, net			1,616,216		1,817,314		112,940		82,507
Profit before income tax			21,417,549		13,101,186		1,257,172		10,563,915
Income tax expense			(4,352,182)		(1,983,727)		-		-
Profit for the year			17,065,367		11,117,459		1,257,172		10,563,915
Attributable to:
Shareholders of the Company			17,065,367		11,117,459		1,257,172		10,563,915
Earnings per share:
Basic and diluted (cents)			7.8		5.1

STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

 

 

			The Group				The Company
			2021		2020		2021		2020
			USD		USD		USD		USD
Profit for the year			17,065,367		11,117,459		1,257,172		10,563,915
Other comprehensive (loss)/income:
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Revaluation gain on property, plant and equipment, net of tax			-		760,291		-		-
Gain  on recovery of impaired assets			15,373		-		-		-
Increase in provision for site restoration			(23,611)		(74,671)		-		-
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Exchange differences arising from translation of foreign operations			(1,923,738)		(5,228,388)		-		-
Total other comprehensive loss			(1,931,976)		(4,542,768)		-		-
Total comprehensive income for the year			15,133,391		6,574,691		1,257,172		10,563,915
Attributable to:
Shareholders of the Company			15,133,391		6,574,691		1,257,172		10,563,915

 

STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS OF 31 DECEMBER 2021

 

 

		The Group					The Company
			2021		2020		2021		2020
			USD		USD		USD		USD
Assets
Non-Current Assets:
Property, plant and equipment			48,437,801		48,856,410		-		-
Right-of-use assets			1,700,510		3,483,259		-		-
Investment in subsidiary companies			-		-		36,199,599		36,294,519
Loan to subsidiary company			-		-		30,080,000		30,110,000
Advances			-		-		-		-
Other assets			155,132		1,900,656		-		-
Total Non-Current Assets			50,293,443		54,240,325		66,279,599		66,404,519
Current Assets
Inventories			16,023,541		12,367,557		-		-
Trade and other receivables			1,751,720		1,910,839		1,724,364		6,775,995
Other assets			2,258,501		726,517		-		-
Income tax recoverable			911,395		1,435,100		-		-
Loans and advances to subsidiary companies			-		-		49,536		39,712
Advances and prepaid expenses			5,233,894		2,374,094		4,971		5,848
Cash and cash equivalents			10,136,022		8,213,680		614,225		1,352,950
Total Current Assets			36,315,073		27,027,787		2,393,096		8,174,505
Total Assets			86,608,516		81,268,112		68,672,695		74,579,024

 

		The Group					The Company
			2021		2020		2021		2020
			USD		USD		USD		USD
Equity and Liabilities
Capital and Reserves
Share capital			73,760,924		73,760,924		73,760,924		73,760,924
Revaluation reserve			2,068,114		2,370,706		-		-
Translation reserve			(120,438,082)		(118,514,344)		-		-
Retained earnings/(Accumulated losses)			110,190,323		100,325,002		(5,605,876)		631,352
Total Equity			65,581,279		57,942,288		68,155,048		74,392,276
Non-Current Liabilities
Borrowings			1,941,383		2,368,296		-		-
Lease liabilities			8,571		2,076,668		-		-
Deferred taxes			4,318,652		4,559,927		-		-
Deferred income			1,588,098		1,492,432		-		-
Provision for site restoration			180,314		150,878		-		-
Total Non-Current Liabilities			8,037,018		10,648,201		-		-
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables			5,061,705		4,075,078		-		-
Accrued and other liabilities			1,552,778		1,531,039		227,897		186,748
Amount owing to a subsidiary company			-		-		289,750		-
Borrowings			3,614,801		4,429,053		-		-
Lease liabilities			2,071,879		1,830,755		-		-
Deferred income			103,720		106,420		-		-
Taxes payable			639,336		705,278		-		-
Total Current Liabilities			12,990,219		12,677,623		517,647		186,748
Total Liabilities			21,027,237		23,325,824		517,647		186,748
Total Equity and Liabilities			86,608,516		81,268,112		68,672,695		74,579,024