Companies from the Stock Exchange: See who increased revenues 160 times, who reported 254 times greater profit, and who made it into the top 20

The last day of February is usually the most exciting day on the stock exchange. There was a lot of trading, although not in spectacular quantities, and the Crobex is at its highest level in the last six years, but only at 41 percent of the historical maximum from October 2007. The excitement was not significantly raised by the resignation at the helm of Kraš, nor by the new mandate for the Management Board of Dalekovod (except for one member). This Tuesday was the last day for issuers of shares to submit financial reports for 2022. Although much could be inferred from the business data for the first three quarters, summarizing the complete results is the first real litmus test of how Croatian companies performed last year.

Most beat inflation

On the same day that statisticians published an estimate indicating that GDP grew by 6.3 percent last year, 84 companies listed on the stock exchange responded in their own way: their revenues increased by 29.1 percent and they reported a gross profit 21.5 percent higher than the previous year.

As many as 69 companies (out of 84) increased their revenues, among them 53 beat inflation with growth exceeding 13 percent, and six more than doubled their revenues. The fastest-growing was one of the smallest and youngest (established in 2019) The Garden Brewery (revenues increased 26 times). Among the larger players, the revenue growth of Adris Group of 151 percent and Croatia Airlines of 86 percent should be highlighted.

The largest revenue loss – greater than 90 percent – was reported by the Sugar Factory VIRO, which transferred its operations to the Croatian Sugar Industry, and Hotels Haludovo Malinska with an abandoned tourist complex. Besides these ‘dead companies’, the revenue decline of Tehnika (58.5 percent), Atlantska Plovidba (47.3 percent), Zvečevo (39.3 percent), Dalekovod (24.9 percent)… is alarming.

The number of losers has decreased by only one, and there are now 19. The Institute IGH, Luka Rijeka, Vodoprivreda Zagreb, Jadran from Crikvenica, HTP Orebić, Zagrebačke pekarne Klara, Stanovi Jadran, and Lošinjska plovidba – holding have moved from negative to positive. On the other hand – from profit to loss – fell AD Plastik (which is the biggest victim of the inevitable problems in the Russian market), Tehnika, Helios Faros, Zvečevo, Koestlin, Hotels Haludovo Malinska, and Alpha Adriatic (formerly Uljanik Plovidba).

As many as 16 companies more than doubled their profits, with the most being Sunce hoteli (254 times) and The Garden Brewery (160 times), primarily because they operated in 2021 practically with ‘positive zero’. According to the same math, the profit of Maraska also jumped, and Adris Group reported a profit of 12.5 million euros, 54 times higher than the previous year. It should be noted that these are unconsolidated results, i.e., the parent company Adris Grupa d.d. (without Cromaris and Croatia osiguranje – which is in fifth place among individual companies – and Maistre in 11th place). Otherwise, the entire group achieved a 16 percent revenue growth and a 36 percent profit growth.

Who is quicker on the trigger

The same applies to other large systems, such as Končar, Podravka, Atlantica… We took into account the unconsolidated results of the parent, i.e., umbrella, individual companies, in order to obtain data on operations exclusively in Croatia and to make this summation as precise a forecast of the final results as possible, which will be known in a few months when all independent companies, as well as those in other groups that are not listed, will have to submit financial reports to Fina.

Until then, we have a comparison with the results of mostly foreign companies, which have already submitted reports on their operations in the past year, noting that their business year does not coincide with the calendar year. Those thirty or so companies – as we wrote a few weeks ago – increased revenues by 40 percent, and reported a profit only 5.5 percent higher than the previous year.

However, this does not necessarily mean that shareholders are quicker on the trigger when reporting profits. Namely, on this list, we have some companies that traditionally report the highest profits. Ina doubled its profit last year to a record amount of 2.99 billion kuna – or 397 million euros – a figure that no individual company in Croatia has ever achieved. Following is Zaba with 397 million euros (-4%), HT with 117 million euros (+11%), and Valamar with 89 million euros (+81%). The largest loss was reported by Croatia Airlines, but the 18 million euros in the red is actually almost halved from the loss of the previous year. 

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