TeraPlast completes sale of Steel division and will pay special dividend

Romanian industrial group TeraPlast (TRP) announced that it completed, on February 26, the sale of its steel products division to Irish group Kingspan and cashed RON 373 million (EUR 76.6 mln).

Following the sale, TeraPlast Group continues its activity through TeraPlast, TeraGlass, TeraPlast Recycling, TeraPlast Folii Biodegradabile, and Somplast, with a strong focus on the plastics products, a field with excellent growth potential, the group said in a press release.

The group announced plans to pay a special dividend after the sale and continue investments, including takeovers.

The group's mergers and acquisitions department is analyzing several possible take-overs.

"We are investing this year RON 165 mln (EUR 33.7 mln) in TeraPlast and Somplast. Practically, we're investing 25% of the turnover that we envisage for 2021, and we're generating 200 additional workplaces. If all companies in Romania followed suit, it would mean investments of RON 445 billion in the Romanian economy. At that pace, we could catch up with Poland in terms of economic performance," said Alexandru Stanean, CEO of TeraPlast.

However, the group will finance a significant part of its investments with taxpayers' money.

TeraPlast applied for state grants to fund some 50% of three projects worth some EUR 30 mln, out of which two grants were already approved.

TeraPlast Group's 2021 budget in the current structure foresees a turnover of RON 636 million (EUR 130 mln), 60% higher than in 2020, and an EBITDA of RON 89,1 million (EUR 18.3 mln), up 58% over last year's level.

TeraPlast has been one of the fastest-growing companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in recent years. In the last 12 months, its shares more than doubled their price.

The company's capitalization is currently RON 945 mln (EUR 194 mln). Local investor Dorel Goia holds 46.8% of TeraPlast's shares, and the NN private pension funds hold a 12% stake.

(Photo courtesy of the company)