Norofert’s bonds started trading on the BVB AeRO market on June 5

Norofert’s bonds started trading on the BVB AeRO market on June 5

The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) informs that on Friday, June 5, the bonds issued by Norofert (stock symbol – NRF25, ISIN – ROX33LDBCW73) started trading on the BVB’s Multilateral Trading System (SMT), three months after the company’s listing on the AeRO market within the BVB SMT.

In January 2020, Norofert conducted a round of financing on the capital market, through a private placement, issuing bonds worth of 11.5 million lei. The bonds have a maturity of 5 years and a fixed interest rate of 8.5% p.a., payable semi-annually.

Within the private placement, the company issued 115,000 bonds with a nominal value of 100 lei/bond, which were bought by 93 investors, of which 88 individuals and 5 legal entities.

“The success of the two rounds of financing carried out by Norofert on the stock exchange shows that investors in the capital market are willing to invest in companies with development prospects and that comes with an innovative element in their activity. The financial market resources available for investment are significant. There is liquidity, there are companies that need capital, we have a functioning market that connects investors and companies. The capital market is an ecosystem, in which everyone fulfills their role, and we can say that the success of the financing rounds carried out by companies largely depends on the intermediaries they work with “, said Radu Hanga, Chairman of the Board of the Stock Exchange. Bucharest values.

During 2019, the company attracted 7.25 million lei from investors on the stock exchange, through a private placement for its shares. At that time, the market capitalization of Norofert was about 20 million lei. On March 3, Norofert shares were listed on the AeRO market and today the company has a market capitalization of 45 million lei. Through the two rounds of financing carried out on the capital market, Norofert attracted 18.75 million lei.

“Since the beginning of NRF shares on the AeRO market, there has been unprecedented interest from local investors in our company, as shares worth about 12 million lei have been traded in the last 3 months. We remain dedicated to the promises made to shareholders and holders of bonds and, despite a challenging 2020, which has brought both a pandemic and a severe drought, we maintain our forecasts for this year. -helped us to adapt very quickly to this difficult time, launching a new product line in just a few weeks to help farmers manage the negative effects of drought on crops. We focus heavily on research and development and will launch new product lines in 2020, as well as we will continue the necessary steps for the expansion of the Norofert brand on the American market “, said Vlad Popescu, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Norofert Group

The capital raised through the bond issue is mainly directed towards the expansion of Norofert in foreign markets, especially in the United States. To enter the US market, Norofert must individually homologate all products in the portfolio, which requires access to significant resources. Another part of the money raised is used as working capital to purchase raw materials to meet the growing demand for Norofert products, as well as to develop Norofert’s portfolio of services and product lines. Norofert Group currently has three main product lines – Norofert Organics, which is a line of organic fertilizer for medium and large farms, Norofert Karisma, which is a line of fertilizer for conventional agriculture, and FITO, a line for hobby gardening and small farmers.

The private placement and admission to trading of the bonds were assisted by Tradeville, as an Authorized Consultant.

In 2019, Norofert Group recorded a consolidated turnover of 14.8 million lei, an increase of 59% compared to the result of 2018, and a net profit of 4.62 million lei. Following the approval of the General Meeting of Shareholders, the company capitalized the amount of 2,407,182 lei from the distributed profit for 2019. As a result of the capital increase, the company issued a number of 6,017,955 new shares with a nominal value of 0, 4 lei/share, which will be distributed to shareholders in the coming months, according to the formula of three newly issued shares for each share held. The Popescu family, represented by Vlad Popescu and Ileana Popescu, holds a 58.43% stake, while the company’s free-float on the stock exchange is 41.57%.

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About Norofert Group

Norofert Group 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, the company has begun 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 farming (Karisma) and a hobby gardening and small organic farmers line (Norofert Fito). In July 2019, Norofert has attracted 7,25 million lei from investors during the fastest ever private placement on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Norofert shares will be tradable on the AeRO market of BVB under NRF ticker.