Finnish food firm reports improved H1 earnings
The Finnish food company also saw net sales of €641.8m for H1 from 1 January to the end of June this year. However, earnings of €333.3m in Q2 of 2012 were down by €0.3m compared to last year. The company also said EBIT improved by €6.6m YOY and amounted to €5.7m, which was down by only €0.9m. Results for the comparative period included a net non-recurring profit of €0.6m.
The company’s operations in Finland for H1 of 2012 saw net sales total €393m, which Atria said grew by €3.7m YOY and EBIT of €13m were €9.8m higher YOY. The increase, according to Atria, was due to an improved sales structure and newly implemented efficiency measures along with higher sales prices.
However, growth in Atria’s Finnish operations were not repeated across the other three countries the company operates in. Net sales in Russia decreased by 3% YOY and EBIT was -€5.3m, which Atria said showed an improvement of €5.8m. Operations in the Baltic produced net sales of €17m and an EBIT of -€0.9m, which is a €0.3m decrease YOY.
In a review period, Atria said it revamped the company’s business strategy to focus on core business as well as strengthen profitability. The aim of the revamp was to improve the company’s position in cold cuts, as well as other meat products in all areas of the business.According to Atria, the revamp has led a review of category management, improvement of productivity and strengthening of customer focus throughout the group.
Atria also announced that, during the review period, it made an investment of around €4.7m in new production equipment for the Malmö plant. Also, the manufacture of ham products and the slicing of cold meats will be moved from the Halmstad plant to the Malmö plant, which will see the Halmstad plant close. The transfer and closure, the company said, is expected to generate annual savings of around €1.5m.
A separate programme to improve production efficiency at the Sinyavino and Gorelovo plants in St Petersburg, Russia, will save Atria €2m annually, which the company said will show at the start of 2013.
