Gazprom’s adjusted net debt fell in the first half of the year

MOSCOW, Sep 27 – PRIME. According to the results of the first half of the year, Gazprom’s net debt / EBITDA ratio under IFRS fell to an extremely low level of 0.23x, Famil Sadygov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, said.

“The level of debt burden in terms of net debt / EBITDA for the first 6 months of 2022 decreased to an extremely low level of 0.23, which clearly demonstrates the strong financial position of the Gazprom group,” Sadigov was quoted as saying in the company’s Telegram channel.

In the same period last year, Gazprom’s net debt was 1.4 EBITDA. The calculation formula uses net debt adjusted for deposits and EBITDA for the last 12 months.

Gazprom’s EBITDA for 6 months of 2022 amounted to 3.052 trillion rubles, which is more than 2 times higher than the value of the first half of 2021 and is a new historical record, the deputy chairman of the board also said.

According to Sadigov, in the first half of 2022, Gazprom did not raise loans for the parent company of the group. As a result, the volume of the total debt decreased by almost 1.4 trillion rubles, to 3.467 trillion rubles. The value of the total debt was positively affected by the strengthening of the ruble in the reporting period by 31% against the US dollar and by 36% against the euro.

“The volume of net debt, adjusted for deposits, amounted to 1.250 trillion rubles, having more than halved in 6 months – to the lowest levels over the past seven years. Cash and cash equivalents, as well as bank deposits on the balance sheet of the group (liquidity cushion) in total amounted to 2.218 trillion rubles,” the deputy chairman also said in a statement.

Sadygov added that “EBITDA of the Gazprom Group for 6 months of 2022 amounted to 3.052 trillion rubles, which is more than 2 times higher than the value of the first half of 2021 and is a new historical record. This result was achieved not only due to high prices, but also due to strict approach to controllable operating costs.

He also recalled that net profit amounted to 2.514 trillion rubles, which is not only 2.6 times higher than the figure for the first half of 2021, but also more than the total profit of the Gazprom group for the previous two calendar years.

“Such a strong financial result allowed us for the first time to consider the possibility of paying interim dividends to shareholders. The size of the dividend base for 6 months of 2022, after applying non-monetary adjustments as part of the dividend policy, amounted to 2.416 trillion rubles, which is equivalent to 51.03 rubles per share,” said Sadygov.