Cash-strapped London-listed Ukrainian miner Ferrexpo confirmed on Tuesday that existing investors are prepared to provide a $100m lifeline as the former FTSE 250 stalwart scrambles to stay in business. The company plans to issue new shares to raise the cash, but the time required for the scheme will delay the publication of its annual accounts for last year, which were due by the end of this month. This breach of Stock Exchange rules means the firm expects its shares to be suspended from 1 May.
Ferrexpo's Financial Struggles
The maker of iron ore pellets also confirmed that its main existing investor, Fevamotinico, which owns over 49% of the company, will participate in the equity fundraising. Last week, Ferrexpo warned that it could run out of cash by the end of August without new funding, leaving it with “no option but to file for insolvency” if the equity issue did not work. Once a mainstay of the FTSE 250 and briefly a member of the FTSE 100 for three months in 2008, Ferrexpo’s market value peaked at around £3bn, with its shares at over 480p in 2021. On Tuesday, shares added 4% to 33.7p.
Oligarch Link and Legal Issues
Fevamotinico is an investment vehicle based in Luxembourg linked to Kostiantyn Zhevago, the Ukrainian oligarch and former member of parliament. He has faced legal action over the 2015 collapse of Finance & Credit Bank, which had thousands of depositors. He continues to deny any wrongdoing. A French court refused a request to extradite Zhevago to Ukraine in 2023 over accusations of embezzlement, following his arrest at a ski resort. When F&C Bank failed, Ferrexpo had around $174m in it, estimated at the time to be about 60% of the miner’s cash. Zhevago is seen by Ukraine’s government as the ultimate beneficial owner of Ferrexpo. Kyiv suspended value-added tax rebates to the firm in 2024, worth around $12m at the time, straining its liquidity.
War Impact and Future Plans
Ferrexpo has been significantly disrupted by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Since the 2022 invasion, the company has grappled with energy outages, supply disruptions, and complications getting its output to market. It is one of the biggest employers in central Ukraine, with around 10,000 staff and contractors. In its Tuesday update, Ferrexpo stated: “The intended fundraise is currently the only viable solution in the timeframe required to meet the group’s ongoing obligations and provide sufficient working capital for the group’s short-term operational requirements while operating at a reduced level for the next 18 months and to continue as a going concern.”
The company revealed backing from investors was “in excess of $100m” it intends to raise. It said: “The company has received indicative, non-binding expressions of interest to participate in the intended fundraise from institutional investors, which, in aggregate, are in excess of $100m, conditional on certain terms and conditions.” According to analysis from Panmure Liberum, Ferrexpo’s “available cash at end-March 2026 was circa $35m, with no debt other than lease liabilities.” But Duncan Hay at the City bank also pointed to “further pressure” from “the continued withholding of VAT refunds, with the total expected to be $80m at end-March.” Panmure Liberum put its rating on Ferrexpo’s stock “under review” at the end of last month and withdrew its forecasts for the firm “given the tight cash position and lack of clarity on short-term funding.” Now, Ferrexpo revealed it is also in talks with “potential new institutional investors.” But it also said there was “no certainty as to the expected timing of the lifting of the suspension of listing and resumption of trading of the company’s shares, if at all.”
