Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem said that higher prices for its products and increased sales enabled it to return to profit in the first quarter of this year. The company, 95.5% controlled by oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, said that its net profit was $19 million in the first three months, against a $118 million loss recorded a year earlier.

Revenue rose by a third on the year, to $325 million on higher prices and increased demand, tracking the economic recovery. In the first quarter, the average price of ammonium nitrate fertiliser rose by 31% to $239 per ton and of phosphate fertilisers by 43%to $455 per ton. Uralchem, founded in 2007, claims to be the world's second-biggest producer of ammonium nitrate in terms of output.

The company had been mulling an initial public offering, but in April the company said it was postponing the offering due to weak market conditions.