Croatian food giant Atlantic Grupa recorded sales of €170.8 million in the first quarter of its financial year, up 12.2% on the same period in 2019.
The company's EBIT amounted to €16.2 million (+15.4%), while net profit increased by 10.6% to €11.9 million.
Growth Drivers
The results were impacted by the suspension of sales in the HoReCa channel and a decline in sales in on-the-go and impulse segments after the introduction of restrictive measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the negative impact was offset by an increase in household consumption and stockpiling of brands such as Argeta, Bakina tajna, Barcaffe, Grand kafa, Donat Mg, Cedevita, as well as personal hygiene and cleaning products and products sold through the pharmacy chain Farmacia.
The biggest contribution to the company's overall revenue growth came from Savoury Spreads (+38.9%) and Donat Mg (+12.5%).
Coffee emerged as the largest individual category generating revenues of €33.6 million, or 19.7% of the total revenue.
The coffee category increased its sales by 5.4%, with most of the growth coming from roasted, ground and instant coffee.
Divisional Performance
In terms of markets, Slovenia reported a growth of 13.2%, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina at 12.7%, and Croatia at 6.9%.
The company's own-brands goods accounted for 62.8% of the total sales.
Pharmacy chain Farmacia posted a growth of 18.9% during the quarter, generating 9.9% of the total revenue.
Outlook
The president of the company's management board, Emil Tedeschi, is confident that Atlantic Grupa will see through the crisis with minimum negative impact, due to its stable financial position, record-breaking results achieved in 2019, and the strength of its brands.
As a socially responsible company, Atlantic has donated €3.7 million for assistance to local civil protection headquarters and institutions that are leading the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
© 2020 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.
