ETLN.L Regulatory News (ETLN)

12 November 2018

Etalon Group Board of Directors Meeting Results

The Board of Directors of ETALON GROUP PLC ("Etalon Group" or the "Company"), one of Russia's largest and longest-established development and construction companies, held a meeting on 9 November 2018 in Limassol, Cyprus.

Changes to the Board of Directors

In order to bring additional expertise and experience, the Board of Directors decided to increase the number of directors from the current nine up to twelve, maintaining the same balanced representation for different groups of stakeholders. Dennis Vinokourov was recommended to the Board of Directors by international institutional investors and was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director (INED). Olga Shevchuk was recommended by the Zarenkov family and was appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Anton Shatov was appointed as an Executive Director. The new composition of the Board is listed below:

· Viacheslav Zarenkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Non-Executive Director

· Martin Cocker, Independent Non-Executive Director

· Charalampos Avgousti, Independent Non-Executive Director

· Boris Svetlichny, Independent Non-Executive Director

· Dennis Vinokourov, Independent Non-Executive Director

· Dmitry Zarenkov, Non-Executive Director

· Alexey Kalinin, Non-Executive Director

· Olga Shevchuk, Non-Executive Director

· Dmitry Kashinsky, Executive Director

· Kirill Bagachenko, Executive Director

· Maxim Berlovich, Executive Director

· Anton Shatov, Executive Director

The Board of Directors also approved the following make-up of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee:

· Viacheslav Zarenkov, Committee Chairman, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Non-Executive Director

· Martin Cocker, Independent Non-Executive Director

· Charalampos Avgousti, Independent Non-Executive Director

· Dmitry Zarenkov, Non-Executive Director

· Alexey Kalinin, Non-Executive Director

· Olga Shevchuk, Non-Executive Director

Commenting on the results of the Board of Directors meeting, Etalon Group Chairman Viacheslav Zarenkov said:

"I am glad to welcome three new members to the Board of Directors today and I am confident that they will bring additional value to the work that the Board does.

"At the meeting I also commented to the Board regarding recent press speculation on the potential sale of a significant stake in the Company. I am regularly approached by different strategic investors, particularly in light of Etalon Group's continued strong operating performance and growth outlook. However, I informed the Board of Directors that no transaction to sell my stake would be presented for discussion to the Board and I remain the largest shareholder of Etalon Group."

Biographical information for new appointments:

Dennis Vinokourov

Dennis is an experienced private equity and corporate law professional. Most recently, as Investment Director at Vi Holding Development, he was instrumental to closing a landmark real estate development deal funded by a consortium of sovereign wealth funds. Prior to that, Dennis worked in senior roles at the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and East Capital. Dennis started his career as a corporate lawyer with White & Case and is admitted to the New York Bar. He holds an MBA from Stern Business School, LL.M. degrees from NYU Law School, where he was a Hauser Scholar, and Central European University, as well as Diploma in Law (J.D. equivalent) from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

Olga Shevchuk

Olga has many years of experience in corporate and international law, including 15 years managing legal departments at large industrial and construction companies. Currently she is a corporate law consultant and is the Head of Legal at an international charitable foundation set up by Viacheslav Zarenkov. Olga spent several years at Etalon Group as the Head of the International Division. Prior to joining Etalon Group, she headed the legal departments at the investment company Jensen Group, at the Russian office of the international real estate developer YIT and in a regional office of Russia's largest production holding company PRODO. Olga graduated from the South-Russian Humanities Institute with a law degree.

Anton Shatov

Anton has over 10 years of experience in the real estate sector. He has worked for Etalon Group since 2008 and participated in preparing the Company for its IPO in 2011. He has held a number of positions related to investments, finance and corporate governance at Etalon Group. Anton holds a master's degree in economics and human resources management from the St Petersburg Polytechnic University.

This and other recent announcements are available on the Etalon Group website: http://www.etalongroup.com/investors/news/ 

Etalon Group IR Team

T: +44 20 8123 1328

E: info@etalongroup.com

EM

Sam VanDerlip

T: +44 7554 993 032

T: +7 499 918 3134

E: vanderlip@em-comms.com 

About Etalon Group

Founded in 1987 by Viacheslav Zarenkov, Etalon Group has become one of Russia's largest development and construction corporations. The Company focuses on middle class residential real estate in the Moscow and St Petersburg metropolitan areas, where it operates through Etalon Invest and Etalon LenSpetsSMU subsidiaries. With a more than 30-year history, Etalon Group has one of the longest and most successful track records in the Russian real estate industry - since its inception, Etalon Group has commissioned 5.8 million sqm.

Etalon Group's strong reputation among consumers supports its pre-sales business model, which helps the Company to minimise external financing needs for on-going projects while maintaining a secure liquidity position: net debt as of 31 December 2017 was RUB 9.7 billion.

The Company is vertically integrated, which helps it to control costs, quality and timing, as well as to demonstrate best-in-class profitability. Etalon Group employs 5 thousand people, and its nationwide sales and marketing network covers 52 Russian cities.

As of 30 June 2018, Etalon Group's assets comprised 39 projects and a construction and maintenance division, with a total of 2.73 million sqm of unsold net sellable area. Knight Frank valued the Company's assets at RUB 132,487 million.

For the year ended 31 December 2017, Etalon Group's new contract sales totalled 512 ths sqm, or RUB 50,240 million. Deliveries in 2017 amounted to 423 ths sqm.

The Company recorded revenue of RUB 70.6 billion and EBITDA of RUB 13.2 billion for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Etalon Group's GDRs have been traded on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange since 20 April 2011.