The Board of Directors of Etalon Group Public Company Limited (“Etalon Group” or the “Company”), one of Russia’s largest and longest-established development and construction companies, authorised a Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) repurchase programme (the “Programme”).
The Board of Directors believes that the Company’s GDRs are currently trading at a level whereby the Programme will create value for the Company's shareholders.
The current intention of the Company is to spend USD 20 million to purchase GDRs under the Programme at market prices during a period between 20 June 2017 and 31 December 2017. This may be subject to change, depending on the Company’s assessment of the state of the market for the Company’s GDRs. The Board of Directors maintains the right to expand the size of the Programme at any time if it decides that the market price for GDRs does not reflect the fair value of the Company.
Upon completion of the Programme, the Board of Directors will decide on the best use of the purchased GDRs. Among other options, the Board may consider funding of the adopted management incentive plan or cancellation of the purchased GDRs.
This and other recent announcements are available on the Etalon Group website: www.etalongroup.com/investors/news/
Etalon Group IR Team
T: +44 20 8123 1328
E: info@etalongroup.com
EM
Sam VanDerlip
T: +44 7554 993 032
T: +7 499 918 3134
E: vanderlip@em-comms.com
About Etalon Group
Founded in 1987 by Viacheslav Zarenkov, Etalon Group has become one of Russia's largest development and construction corporations. The Company focuses on middle class residential real estate in the Moscow and St Petersburg metropolitan areas, where it operates through Etalon Invest and Etalon LenSpetsSMU subsidiaries. With a 29-year history, Etalon Group has one of the longest and most successful track records in the Russian real estate industry - since its inception, Etalon Group has commissioned 5.4 million sqm.
Etalon Group's strong reputation among consumers supports its pre-sales business model, which helps the Company to minimise external financing needs for on-going projects while maintaining a secure liquidity position: net debt as of 31 December 2016 was RUB 7.8 billion.
The Company is vertically integrated, which helps it to control costs, quality and timing, as well as to demonstrate best-in-class profitability. Etalon Group employs 5,000 people, and its nationwide sales and marketing network covers 49 Russian cities.
As of 31 December 2016, Etalon Group's portfolio comprised 35 projects, with a total of 2.82 million sqm of unsold net sellable area. JLL valued this portfolio at RUB 115,818 million.
For the year ended 31 December 2016, Etalon Group's new contract sales totalled 496 ths sqm, or RUB 47,443 million. Deliveries in 2016 amounted to 420 ths sqm.
The Company recorded revenue of RUB 49.0 billion and EBITDA of RUB 7.3 billion for the year ended 31 December 2016.
Etalon Group’s GDRs have been traded on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange since 20 April 2011.