According to several news agencies Fitch Ratings has affirmed Agroton Public Limited's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at 'B-'. Fitch has also affirmed its National Long-term rating at 'BBB(ukr)'. The outlook is stable, reads a press release of Fitch Ratings. Fitch Ratings has also affirmed Agroton's senior unsecured rating at 'B-'/'RR4' in relation to its $50 million eurobonds due in July 2014.

"The Long-term IDRs continue to reflect Agroton's above-average business risks, due to the strong cyclicality and seasonality of agricultural commodities, its weak free cash flow profile as a result of the large amount of capital tied up in working capital, its reliance on one geographical area in Ukraine and its small scale, as illustrated by net sales and funds from operations (FFO) for year-ended December 2011 of $100 million and $8 million respectively," reads the report.

AgroInvest comment: Agroton being one of the rapidly developing agro holdings in Ukraine is expected to grow over the next year.

For more detail please refer to the UAIndex Daily (May 04 issue).

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