WARSAW, Poland - Ukrainian agriculture group Kernel said on Thursday it swung to a net profit of $106.9 million in the financial year ended June 30 from a loss of almost 100 million a year earlier.
"Our sunflower oil business contributed a record high $213 million to our EBITDA, up 20 percent year-on-year ... Additionally, we benefited from a Ukrainian currency devaluation on the cost side," Warsaw-listed Kernel said in a statement.
An almost 50 percent devaluation of the hryvnya currency during Kernel's financial year had a positive on its export-oriented business, inflating operating profit.
In the previous financial year, Kernel had suffered a $98 million net loss due to a plunge in soft commodity prices and low sunflower seed stocks.
Kernel shares, a favourite of Polish private pension funds, have risen 94 percent this year, after a 25 percent plunge in 2014. Bill Gates' Cascade Investment bought 5 percent stake in the company in October.
