Given the latest ceasefire between the pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army seems to be unraveling, cautious investors want to know more about companies or sectors that might be exposed to losses if the Russia-Ukraine proxy war flares up again. Given that the sanctions on the Russian economy will certainly not be lifted while there is fighting between Russian-sponsored rebels and Ukrainian forces, and that Ukraine’s economy will also remain severely pressured, conservative investors will want to avoid businesses with significant exposure to either country.
FactSet data on exposure to Russia by country
A September 24th report from FactSet Insight explores the issue of exposure to Russia and Ukraine by country. Data taken from the global FactSet Market Index shows that businesses based in Austria, Finland, and Poland have among the largest average revenue exposures to Russia at 7.4%, 6.2%, and 5.6%, respectively. Stock markets in European countries such as The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, and France, contain companies with an average exposure to Russia of 5.3%, 4.0%, 3.4%, and 3.2%, respectively. Of note, U.S.-listed companies only have an average of 1.4% of sales exposed to Russia.
UK companies with concentrated exposure to Russia
The FactSet Insight data highlights handful of companies with concentrated exposure to Russia. For example, UK-based companies Volga Gas plc (LON:VGAS), an independent oil and gas company operating in the Volga Region of Russia, Highland Gold Mining, a gold miner with operations in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, and Raven Russia, a commercial real estate company, all have significant exposure to Russia.
Other U.K. companies that don’t exclusively operate in Russia, but have major sales exposure there include ITE Group plc (LON:ITE), an international conference organizer with 63% of sales from Russia, and EVRAZ plc (LON:EVR) (OTCMKTS:EVRZF), a steel, mining, and vanadium business with 43% of revenue from Russia. Petropavlovsk PLC (LON:POG) (OTCMKTS:PPLKY), a developer and producer of metals, has a high Russian and Ukrainian exposure. The firm claims that all sales derive from Russia and unspecified former Soviet republics (the Commonwealth of Independent States, or “CIS”) in fiscal 2013.
Europe not much exposed to Ukraine
The FactSet data also highlights that Ukrainian revenue exposure is much lower in Europe and most of the rest of the world. However, there are a few exceptions, however, such as Polish Getin Holding with 15% of revenues exposed to Ukraine, and C.A.T. oil AG (ETR:O2C) (OTCMKTS:CAOJF) with 98% revenue exposure to Ukraine. Serinus Energy Inc (TSE:SEN) (OTCMKTS:SNUYF), an upstream oil and gas exploration company based in Canada (but on the Warsaw Stock Exchange), and JKX Oil & Gas Plc (LON:JKX) (OTCMKTS:JKXOY), a UK-based mid-size mineral exploration firm, each have around 80% revenue exposure to Ukraine.
