Excellent beginning of year for Atlantic Group – Acquisition of Strauss Adriatic finalized and strong growth of sales and profitability

Excellent beginning of the year with the finalization of the acquisition of Strauss Adriatic and a strong growth of sales and profitability

In the first quarter of 2024, Atlantic Grupa recorded sales of EUR 236.6 million, which is a 9.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 20.3% to EUR 25.2 million, while net profit increased by 3.2% and amounts to EUR 9.9 million.

– Excellent sales results at the beginning of the year enabled a strong growth in profitability, despite the considerable growth of the price of cocoa and raw coffee and the ongoing logistics challenges, as well as the growth of investments in people and marketing. With the completion of the acquisition of Strauss Adriatic, we confirmed the strategic orientation of Atlantic Grupa toward strengthening our core business, concretely, the growth of the coffee category, and the strengthening of the competitiveness of the regional industry and local brands. We continue with significant capital investments, as well as innovations in the production portfolio, among which the launching of Argeta’s range of meatless products stands out. Although we expect the geopolitical and macroeconomic environment to continue to be challenging, we remain confident that we will continue with successful operations and sustainable growth – pointed out Emil Tedeschi, CEO of Atlantic Grupa.

Beverages, Pharmacy and Coffee heading the growth

The most significant growth was recorded by the Strategic Business Units (SBU) Beverages (16%), Pharmacy business (11.8%) and Coffee (9.4%). Coffee, as the biggest individual category, contributes 20.1% to the total income. In terms of distribution, the Strategic Distribution Unit (SDU) North Macedonia leads with a growth of 11.6%, followed by the SDU Croatia, with a 10.6% growth, and Serbia with a 9% growth. In the total sales of Atlantic Grupa, own brands account for 61.9%, pharmacy business accounts for 9.5%, whereas principal brands account for 28.6% of sales.

On March 1, Atlantic Grupa finalized the acquisition of Strauss Adriatic, the owner of the Serbian coffee brands Doncafe and C kafa, and which, through this acquisition, joined the regional leaders Grand kafa and Barcaffe. Atlantic also took over the modern production facility in the industrial zone Simanovci near Belgrade and 220 employees, and the transaction was previously conditionally approved by the Commission for Protection of Competition in the Republic of Serbia. An important innovation in the production program was brought in the first quarter by Argeta with the launching of meat-flavored meatless spreads, in line with the development of food trends.

Pioneer in reporting by ESRS and gender equality champion

The annual report of Atlantic Grupa for 2023 was published in compliance with the new legal regulation for non-financial reporting, which means that, along with the usual items, the ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) are implemented within sustainability, whereby Atlantic Grupa is established as one of the first companies in these areas to implement the new standards. In addition to that, Atlantic Droga Kolinska has been pronounced ESG 2024 Champion of Slovenia, confirming that Atlantic is uniformly fulfilling its ESG obligations in all three areas – environment, society, and governance. All indicators are connected in the sustainability index of the company, which every year indicates the company’s success in the realization of annual goals, and the dedication to sustainable development is especially apparent from the fact that Atlantic Grupa exceeded the set Sustainability Index for 2023.

Talking about sustainable practices, it should also be pointed out that Atlantic Grupa is the winner of the important acknowledgment “Equal Pay Champion”, the equal pay certificate of the HR services company Selectio. The analysis of Atlantic Grupa determined its dedication to paying attention to gender variety within the company and improving the share of women in the management positions where there had been such flaws. In Atlantic Grupa, 55% women are in leading positions, 58% in development programs and there are 52% women employed through internal contests and there is no pay difference, that is, it is negligible and amounts to 2.6% in favor of women.

Atlantic Brands doo Beograd

Strauss Adriatic d.o.o. Šimanovci

Atlantic Grupa

Strauss Adriatic

Emil Tedeschi

Doncafe

C kafa

acquisition of Strauss Adriatic

European Sustainability Reporting Standards

Equal Pay Champion