The Agrokor Group recorded an operating profit of 729.7 million kuna in the first six months of this year, which is 44.2 million or 6.4 percent higher than planned, according to the latest monthly report from the extraordinary administration, which highlights the continuous reduction of operating costs and improvement of efficiency.
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“The key feature of the semi-annual operations of the 16 companies included in the monthly report is the continuous reduction of operating costs and improvement of efficiency,” emphasizes the 16th monthly report from the extraordinary administration, for the period from July 11 to August 10, published on Monday.
The retail and wholesale business group, which encompasses four companies, achieved 6.1 billion kuna in revenue and 70.2 million kuna in operating profit (EBITDA) in the first six months of 2018, which is 32.6 million kuna more than planned.
“All companies in that business group have lower operating costs than planned. Due to lower operating costs and better commercial conditions than planned, the achieved EBITDA at the level of that business group continues on a positive trend and is above plan this month, as well as in the cumulative year,” states the extraordinary administration.
Meanwhile, Konzum’s revenue, the largest company in that sector, amounted to 4.1 billion kuna, 3.1 percent higher than planned, while EBITDA in the six-month period reached 103.5 million kuna, or 63.3 million kuna more than planned.
The food business group includes nine companies, and in June it also continued the trend of achieving better operational results than planned. Revenues at the level of that business group reached 3.8 billion kuna in the first half of the year, while EBITDA was nearly 585 million kuna.
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“The food business group in June continues the trend of achieving better operational results (EBITDA) than planned, despite a slight decline in sales revenue caused by unfavorable weather conditions, which are the result of the cost control program,” the report assesses.
In that sector, the highest revenues in the first six months were achieved by PIK Vrbovec, 831 million kuna, with EBITDA of 68.9 million kuna. Following in revenue is Jamnica, with 587 million kuna, along with an operating profit of 132.7 million kuna, and Ledo, with revenue of 555 million kuna and an operating profit of 114.4 million kuna.
The agriculture business group recorded 991 million kuna in revenue and an operating profit of 74.6 million kuna in the same period. In that group, the highest revenue was achieved by Belje, 572 million kuna, while its operating profit was 56.3 million kuna.
The extraordinary administration states in the report, among other things, that after the approval of the settlement, the High Commercial Court is resolving appeals regarding its confirmation.
“Upon the finality of the settlement, its implementation will begin, which is planned to last between three and six months. All companies in the system, under the organization and control of the extraordinary administration, have begun preparations for this technically very demanding process, which, according to the latest estimates, will have more than 100,000 steps,” the report states.
According to data from the report on the costs of the extraordinary administration and the operations of Agrokor d.d. (which are stated excluding VAT), the total cost of consultants in May amounted to 40.67 million kuna, which is a decrease compared to May when they amounted to 110.56 million kuna.
As explained, the largest contribution to the overall reduction of operating costs for June, amounting to 65 million kuna, comes from a reduction in legal costs of nearly 63 million kuna and financial consultants, by 14 million kuna.
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Since the entry of the extraordinary administration into Agrokor, i.e., April 10, 2017, until the end of June this year, the total costs of Agrokor d.d., which include fees to the commissioner as well as salaries and bonuses for employees, then costs of consultants, auditing and tax services, and overhead costs, amounted to 817 million kuna. Of that, the largest part, 495 million kuna, relates to the costs of consultants during that period.
