Podravka Group Achieves Best Results in Its Long History in the First Quarter

At today’s meeting, the Supervisory Board of Podravka d.d. confirmed the unaudited business results of the Podravka Group for Q1 2018 and expressed great satisfaction, considering that this is the best operational result and the highest operating profit for the first quarter in Podravka’s long history. It is particularly worth noting that this achievement is the result of organic growth without extraordinary influences, which further confirms the success of the Podravka Group’s operations in the first quarter.

The net profit of the Podravka Group for the first quarter of this year amounted to 69.8 million kuna, representing a significant increase compared to the same period last year when it was 18 million kuna. The growth in sales of the profitable assortment, along with simultaneous control of operating costs, resulted in double-digit growth in profitability at all levels of operations, according to the statement.

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The sales revenue of the Podravka Group amounted to 988.9 million kuna, which represents an increase of 75.6 million kuna, or 8.3 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

The movement in sales revenue was primarily influenced by the growth in sales revenue in the Food segment due to stronger sales and marketing activities and the expansion of distribution in certain categories.

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The Food segment achieved 789.8 million kuna in sales revenue, representing an increase of 9.2 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, while without the impact of exchange rate differences, revenues would have been estimated to be higher by 9.9 percent. Within this segment, all business programs recorded growth in sales revenue, and there was a growth of 10.3 percent in own brands. Thus, Culinary achieved a growth of 8.6 percent, Baby food, desserts, and snacks 8.2 percent, Podravka food 16.9 percent, the Grain business program 9.4 percent, Meat products, dishes, and spreads 13.4 percent, and the Fish business program 9.7 percent.

The second segment of the Podravka Group, Pharmaceuticals, achieved 199 million kuna in sales revenue, representing a growth of 5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, while without the impact of exchange rate differences, revenues would have been estimated to be higher by 7.5 percent. Own brands in Pharmaceuticals recorded a growth of 6.3 percent, primarily due to the expansion of distribution in Central European markets and increased demand in the Russian market. It is worth mentioning that in the most significant category, Prescription Medicines, a significant increase in sales revenue of 9.8 percent was recorded.

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When it comes to the realization of sales revenue of the Podravka Group by regions, the largest relative increase was recorded in the Central Europe region at 15.9 percent and in the Eastern Europe region at 14.9 percent. The Adriatic region, as the most significant region within the Podravka Group, recorded a strong growth in sales revenue of 6.3 percent, increasing sales revenue by 40 million kuna compared to the same period a year earlier.

The management’s focus in 2018 is on further organic growth, continued reduction of indebtedness, and improving internal efficiency.