Norofert shareholders approve distribution of stock dividend and appoint Iuliana Mușat as new Independent Board Member
Norofert shareholders approve distribution of stock dividend and appoint Iuliana Mușat as new Independent Board Member
Bucharest, 7 May 2020 – The shareholders of Norofert SA (BVB: NRF), the leading Romanian producer of organic fertilizers listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange approved last week the distribution of free shares as a “stock dividend”, voted in favor of a budget for 2020 as well as appointed a new board member, Iuliana Mușat.
The stock dividend will be awarded as a result of capitalizing on 2,407,182 lei of Norofert’s profit from 2019. The shareholders have approved during AGA the capital increase of the company of 2,407,182 lei, by issuing 6,017,955 new shares with a nominal value of 0.4 lei per share. The shares will be allotted according to the formula of three new shares for each share held.
Additionally, Iuliana Mușat has been elected as an independent Board Member. Iuliana Mușat has over 20 years of experience in the capital markets and financial domain. She has assisted both state-owned as well as private companies in IPOs and major transactions on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. She currently holds the position of Investment Banking Senior Director at Raiffeisen Bank Romania, having previously served as the CFO and COO at Raiffeisen Capital & Investment. Between 2000 and 2014, she has also sat on the Board of Directors of the same institution.
“I am honored by the trust that Norofert shareholders have given me and I am glad that I will have the opportunity to collaborate with a dynamic and professional team that has built and developed this 100% Romanian success story,” said Iuliana Mușat, Independent Board Member at Norofert SA.
Iuliana Mușat brings broad experience and knowledge in financial management, reporting and control systems, as well as in the implementation of procedures and standards for efficiency and risk management. Paired with her comprehensive understanding of capital markets regulations she will bring added value to all Norofert shareholders. Iuliana Mușat will sit on Norofert’s Board alongside Vlad Popescu, President, and Zuzanna Kurek, non-executive Board Member.
Along with the dividend approval, the Norofert shareholders also voted in favor of the budget for this year. In 2020, Norofert targets consolidated revenues of 13,380,000 lei and a net profit of 5 million lei. Despite the COVID-19, Norofert maintained its 2020 projections given that the agriculture sector continued to operate as close to normal as possible during the crisis. At the same time, in the past weeks, Romania has been dealing with the severe drought which has had a significant impact on the agricultural sector across Europe.
“2020 has so far been a challenging year for the Romanian agricultural sector. On the bright side, it has given us a unique opportunity to innovate and continue building a relationship with our clients. To help our clients deal with the severe drought currently experienced across the whole CEE region, we launched a new anti-heat product called GRAAL. GRAAL is a product that alleviates the effects of prolonged drought, by bringing in colonies of microorganisms that maintain moisture in the soil for a long time. We already started delivering the first batches of this product to our clients, to help them save as much of their crops despite the unfavorable weather conditions,“ said Vlad Popescu, President of the Board at Norofert.
Since floating on AeRO market on March 3rd, the NRF stock has undergone an unparalleled evolution given the context, as the market capitalization increased by 83% compared to the price from the private placement, or 52.5% considering the closing price from the first day of trading. The evolution has been supported by high liquidity as 32.25% of the company, respectively 654,319 of NRF shares, changed their shareholders between March 3rd and May 6th. Norofert’s free-float, meaning the shares that can be freely traded as they are not locked-in by significant investors, is 30.27%. The high trading activity has been supported by an enlarged shareholder’s base that at the end of April counted over 400 investors.
About Norofert SA
Norofert Group (BVB: NRF) is a leading Romanian producer of organic agricultural products and an experienced player on the Romanian farming market. Established in 2000 as a family business, the company was initially the importer of high-quality fertilizers from Western markets to Romania. In 2015, with Vlad Popescu taking up the reins, Norofert started producing bio-fertilizers, organic phytosanitary products such as insecticides and fungicides as well as seed and foliar treatments using its original recipes. Between 2017 and 2019, the company has undergone rapid growth after developing a proprietary technology Bio Chain and launching a premiere in the agricultural sector, an effervescent tablet. Today, Norofert is a group of companies that include a line for organic farming (Norofert Organic), a line for conventional agriculture (Karisma) and a hobby gardening and small organic farmers line (Norofert Fito). On March 3rd, 2020 the company has floated on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and has been since then traded on the AeRO market under “NRF” symbol.