[Top 1000] How Fortenova Agriculture Performed and How the Buyer Who Offered the Most Fared

In the publication 1000 largest, which we are releasing alongside this issue of Lider, we can for the first time outline the business results of the Fortenova group based on the ten largest companies from the group that are in the top 1000 (Konzum plus, PIK Vrbovec plus, Tisak plus, Belje plus, Jamnica plus, Roto dinamic, Zvijezda plus, the parent Fortenova group, Vupik plus, and PIK Vinkovci plus). These are, of course, not final results, especially not consolidated, but they relate to 98 percent of Fortenova’s operations in Croatia. By summing up the revenues, we arrived at 3.48 billion euros, representing a growth of 12.1 percent. However, Fortenova’s companies reported a loss of nearly 400 million euros in their financial statements, six times more than the previous year. All of this, and a little more, was taken on by the parent company (444 million), while PIK Vrbovec plus recorded another 5.5 million in losses (which had been operating positively in previous years), and the other eight companies from the top 1000 reported a combined profit of 52 million euros.

Nevertheless, all of this is currently overshadowed by the sale of Fortenova’s agricultural sector. The Hungarian Mészáros group, Podravka, and the consortium of Žito led by Marko Pipunić and Osatina led by Mirko Ervačić conducted a due diligence review, after which all submitted binding offers. What could they see?

The revenues of Belje plus, Vupik plus, and PIK Vinkovci plus increased by eight percent last year, while profits shrank from 25 million euros in 2022 to just under three million euros. If the results of the fourth component of Fortenova’s Baranja business, Vinka plus, which reported a loss of 3.7 million euros, were added to the calculation, it would result in operations ‘at a negative zero’, or a loss of 700 thousand euros. However, according to unofficial information, Vinka is not included in the sales package.

Meanwhile, data for the parent Fortenova group reveal that the loss was caused by financial expenses of 482 million euros. Coincidentally or not, it has been mentioned in the media that Fortenova is seeking around half a billion euros for the agricultural sector (and the credit Damocles sword weighs about 1.2 billion euros).

The requested price was offered by the most generous buyer in the first, non-binding round, Lőrinc Mészáros, a close friend of Viktor Orbán, who is already present in the Croatian market. He is best known as the owner of NK Osijek, having also built a new stadium. The club, which is currently at the center of an affair involving threats to the sports director and his associate, as well as attacks on them, increased its revenues by 80 percent last year (to 41 million euros), jumped from the 849th position to 478th, and turned the ‘positive zero’ from 2023 into a profit of 9.5 million euros. He entered Croatian agriculture last year by purchasing the largest domestic apple producer, the company Rabo from Kneževi Vinogradi. The third area of activity is tourism. Mészáros is involved in a 70 million euro investment in the construction of the luxury hotel Riva’s Hotels & Resorts in Ičići.

The Hungarian entrepreneur recently also purchased the Miramar hotel in Opatija. The company Hotel Kvarner Palace, which managed the hotel, remained in Austrian ownership and fell out of the top 1000, while the hotel nearly doubled its revenues to 9.4 million euros.

—

;

The article is available in print
and digital editions of Lider

SUBSCRIBE

I AM ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER

—