Croatia-based food producer and distributor Atlantic Grupa has recorded first half sales of €332 million, up 4.1% year-on-year.
The biggest contribution came from the group's Savoury Spreads unit, which posted 12.5% growth, followed by Beverages (+9.6%) and Coffee (+6.8%).
Coffee is the largest individual product category at the firm, with a 21.3% share of total sales and €71 million in sales revenue.
Regional Performance
Geographically, the highest growth was recorded in Croatia (+8.3%), followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (+6.9%) and Serbia (+6.1%). There was also significant growth in other regional markets (+9.8%), comprising Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo.
On the other hand, sales dropped significantly in Russia and CIS (-23.6%) and 'other' markets (-43.3%), due to the divestment of the sports and functional foods segments.
As of the end of June, EBITDA amounted to €39.5 million (+5.3%), while net profit after minorities increased by 8.8% to €22.3 million, thanks to the growth of the distribution business and Atlantic's own brands.
Agrokor Settlement
The most notable event in H1 was the successful completion of the settlement among Agrokor group creditors.
According to the settlement, if Agrokor-owned Konzum achieves a planned four‐year EBITDA target, Atlantic Grupa will collect all outstanding claims, which amount to approximately €8 million.
Cooperation Agreements
During the first half period, cooperation agreements with new principals Red Bull (in Serbia) and Mars Group (in Croatia) were also agreed.
As part of its divestment program of non-core assets, Atlantic Grupa signed an agreement to sell Croatia’s largest cosmetics manufacturer, Neva, to Magdis.
Highlights in terms of brand development include the new production of Argeta in the USA, the double‐digit growth of Black'n'Easy' instant Turkish coffee, and positive results for the redesigned Cockta in the HoReCa channel.
Atlantic Grupa expects to end 2018 with revenue growth of 9%, EBITDA up by 9.6% and EBIT increasing by 13.3% on the previous year.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
