March the 30th, 2023 - The construction of a brand new Podravka logistics and distribution centre has begun as part of an enormous 48 million euro investment from this well known company.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, works have now officially begun on the construction of the brand new Podravka logistics and distribution centre (LDC) located in the Danica business zone in Koprivnica. This is the largest investment as part of the Podravka Group's overall business strategy until the year 2025, and the total value of the project stands at 48 million euros. The planned works will cover 26,000 m2 of gross floor plan area.

"The new Podravka logistics and distribution centre is being built on an area the size of three football fields. This is the largest planned investment within the investment cycle of the Podravka Group, which began back in mid-2021. By realising this investment, we'll raise the level of customer service we can offer to an even higher level, and make the work of workers working in logistics and in the warehouse significantly easier. It's extremely important because we'll be able to significantly reduce the need for internal transport and thus contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions. The storage locations in Koprivnica and the surrounding area will now be consolidated into one," said Martina Dalic, President of the Podravka Management Board.

At the beginning of the works on the construction of the new LDC, the implementation of the logistics process optimisation project, which was launched in the middle of 2021, after detailed analyses of the supply chain and established measures to improve the aforementioned processes, is continuing. The completion of the works is expected at the end of 2024.

"The construction project will include a fully automated high-bay warehouse, another warehouse, an administrative building and accompanying roads with all the necessary infrastructure. The total capacity of the new Podravka logistics and distribution centre will be almost 62 thousand pallet places in different temperature regimes, and in the near future, the plan is to connect that with the main export warehouse, which is only a few metres away,'' said Tomislav Djuranek, Podravka's project manager.

The chosen location of the Podravka logistics and distribution centre is located in the immediate vicinity of the company's factories and enables connection with the existing export warehouse. The realisation of this project will consolidate a large number of current warehouse spaces used for the storage of finished products, raw materials and packaging, which are located in eight different locations.

The up and coming Podravka logistics and distribution centre will meet the expected needs for storage space on the Croatian market in the next decade, and if there is a need, it can be expanded even more in the future. It's also worth noting that the installation of solar panels on the roofs is planned.

Despite the pressure placed on operating costs due to the exceptional rise in raw material prices and spiralling inflation, the Podravka Group's investment cycle is progressing according to plan. After the IT and energy reconstruction and the modernisation of Podravka's business headquarters come investments in improving working conditions in their factories and the implementation of new production lines in the Kalnik and Kokteli pastry factories, the commissioning of a power plant, and the start of the works on the expansion of the soup and Vegeta factories.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

October the 29th, 2022 - The Podravka Group has managed to hold onto its growth despite the negative economic circumstances and inflationary pressures we're currently experiencing. It even secured sales growth of 10 percent.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, during the first nine months of 2022, Croatia's well known Podravka Group successfully coped with the various market challenges generated by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the consequences of which are reflected in the strong and continuous increase in the prices of all raw materials, packaging and energy.

Over the first nine months of this year, the Podravka Group achieved impressive revenue growth of 329.1 million kuna, which is equal to a 9.7 percent increase when compared to the same period last year. The Nutrition segment grew by 11.1 percent, or 292 million kuna, while the Pharmaceuticals segment recorded an increase in revenue of five percent, or 37.1 million kuna. The investment cycle is in full swing, so capital investments at the Podravka Group level in the first nine months of this year amounted to 294.5 million kuna, which is almost three times more than in the same period last year when that figure amounted to 103.7 million kuna.

Operating profit before depreciation (EBITDA) during this same period was 5.7 percent higher, and net profit was 3.8 percent higher when compared to the first three quarters of 2021. However, comparing the third quarter of 2022 with the same period in 2021, a visible a drop in net profit in the Food segment can be seen, which is a direct consequence of business conditions that have further worsened due to rising prices of raw materials, packaging and energy. The current high costs of raw materials, packaging and energy in the Food segment amounted to 269 million kuna, meaning that they were 25.3 percent higher than they were during the same nine months of last year.

"The business conditions over the first nine months of 2022 have been far more challenging than we expected them to be back at the beginning of the year, which is why we're strongly focused on optimising all types of costs and maintaining our sales volume. In this period we've just come through, through the active management of stocks, sales prices and increasing production efficiency, we partially amortised the rise in the prices of raw materials, packaging and energy, and thus managed to maintain growth.

I'm particularly pleased that, even in such challenging circumstances, we increased the salaries of our employees back at the end of March. However, it's important to emphasise the fact that the results the Podravka Group achieved in the first nine months of 2022 don't reflect what awaits us at the annual level. The most severe impact of cost growth awaits us in the fourth quarter, which will certainly affect the overall result for this year,'' commented the President of the Management Board of Podravka, Martina Dalic, adding that despite this, the company is continuing to implement all its strategic plans, which include significant investments and improvement of conditions of work.

In accordance with the company's development strategy, the implementation of the Podravka Group's investment cycle is in full swing, as evidenced by the investments completed over the last three months. A new line at the Koktel Pastry Factory, worth 30 million kuna, was put into operation, and work was completed on the company's solar power plant, which is currently the largest integrated (on the roofs of existing facilities/buildings) solar power plant in all of the Republic of Croatia.

In addition to all of the above, the Podravka Group's production facilities were all fitted with air conditioning units and a complete energy and IT renovation of the business headquarters worth 104.5 million kuna was completed, which significantly improved the working conditions of a large number of employees. The digitisation of production processes at Tvornica Juha i Vegeta was also completed, the installation of a new line in Varazdin, worth 40 million kuna, is now in its final phase, and construction work on the expansion of Tvornica Juha i Vegeta began at the beginning of October. This investment, worth a massive 104.8 million kuna in total, is the first investment in the construction of new Prehrana production facilities in Koprivnica after fifteen years, which will also create new jobs.

During the month of September, the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Podravka Group began, and the management of the company made a decision to pay the employees a special award in the amount of 750 kuna to mark the occasion, instead of being boastful with large ceremonies.

For more, make sure to keep on top of our dedicated business section.

March 18thund 2020 - An overview of the Croatian equity market and how it reacted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On the 24^th of February 2022, a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began. The world was struck and this was also evident when looking at the capital markets which reacted very suddenly and there was a lot of volatility in the markets.

The Croatian equity market can be observed by looking at the benchmark index CROBEX10 which is made up of 10 Croatian blue-chip companies with the largest free-float, liquidity, and market capitalization. CROBEX10 fell by 6,47% on the first day of the invasion falling from 1284.56 to 1201.42. The downward trend has started even before that which is not odd since financial markets are to a large extent forward-looking.  CROBEX10 reached its peak on 19^th January at 1342.93 and has from there slipped down to 1152.36 on March 8^th, cumulatively falling by 14,19%, and technically speaking entering into a correction phase. From March 8^th to March 17^th at the time of writing this article CROBEX10 has soared back up by 6,57% and it reached 1228.

When comparing Croatian CROBEX10 with other European and American market indices we can see that some Indices experienced an even more drastic market sell-off. Most notably Polish WIG fell by 11%, Hungarian BUX fell by 10%, and Slovenian SBITOP and Austrian ATX dropped 7% on the first day of the invasion. 

Some of these indices have managed to return near the price levels as before the war while others are still deep in the red zone. As of 17^th of March, Austrian ATX is at -9%, Cezch PX and Hungarian BUX at -6% while Croatian CROBEX10 is at -4% compared to their price levels on the 23^rd of February.

When looking at CROBEX10 and its 10 constituents we can see that on the first day of the invasion the biggest drop can be seen in Ad Plastik -18%, Atlantska Plovidba -12%, and Podravka -9%.

It is interesting to see how the market reacts to an unpredictable event such as this war and it is the best indicator of the extent of exposure these companies have to Russian and Ukrainian markets. As of the 17^th of March, most of these companies are near the price levels before the war. Two companies that made an official statement to ZSE and which are clearly exposed to these markets are AD Plastik and Podravka which is also seen in their price level which is currently -33% and -7% respectively, compared to the price levels before the escalation.

AD PLASTIK

AD Plastik is a Solin-based manufacturer of automobile components. Unfortunately, AD PLASTIK is largely impacted by the Russian Ukrainian war. They have two factories in Russia which together account for around 25% of their revenue according to their statement published by ZSE. These two factories sell exclusively to the Russian market and through them, AD Plastik is exposed to the fluctuation of the Russian Rubble. The AD Plastik share price was falling from the start of the war on the 24^th of February until March 7^th falling by 44% and whipping out nearly 300 million HRK from their market capitalization. As of 17^th March, its share price has scaled up to 105 HRK which is a 20% increase but it is still 33% lower than the share price before the start of the war.

The additional burden was the release of their 2021 financial statements on the 24^th of February, which showed a drop in operating revenue by 6.8% and a drop in their EBITDA margin by 273 bps. This is most likely caused by the chip shortage and other supply chain problems in the automobile industry.

On a positive note, on March 9^th, they made a public statement announcing a new contract with Stellantis Group and Motherson Group for the European market which are together worth 73,6 million Euros.

PODRAVKA

Podravka is Koprivnica based food and pharmaceutical company. According to their statement published on ZSE, the group’s exposure to Russian and Ukrainian markets account for less than 6.5% of their sales revenue. Belupo, their pharma division, had 37,1% of international sales in Russia according to their 2020 annual report. Considering that their pharma division had significantly higher EBITDA margins In 2021 with 20.5% compared to 10.6% in the food division, it Is likely that investors expect a decrease in EBITDA margins in the coming period.

On the positive side, their 2021 financial report recorded a 2.8% increase in the group’s sales revenue and a 64 bps increase In their EBITDA margin.

To conclude, the Croatian equity market has been through a few turbulent weeks and has managed to partially recover but we are still surrounded by a high level of uncertainty, with the war in Ukraine still raging, with rising inflation, and the upcoming interest rate hikes it will be a challenge for the whole world and especially for the European continent.

Disclosure: I do not own any of these shares and this article is purely for informational purposes and should not be used as the basis for any investment decisions.

SYMBOLS

EBITDA – earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization

WIG - Warsaw Stock Exchange General Index (WIG) 

BUX -Budapest Stock Exchange  Index

SBITOP – Ljubljana Stock Exchange  Index

ATX - Austrian Traded Index

PX- Prague Stock Exchange  Index

S&P500 - Standard and Poor's 500  Index

EURO STOXX 50 - stock index of Eurozone stocks 

CROBEX- Zagreb Stock Exchange  Index

Sources: zse.hr , pse.cz , RGFI , marketwatch.com , wienerborse.at, ljse.si

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February the 7th, 2022 - Former Deputy Prime Minister Martina Dalic, also a Croatian economist, is set to remain at Podravka's helm.

As Jutarnji list/Novac writes, on Friday last week, Podravka's Supervisory Board appointed a new Management Board, which will continue to be headed by Martina Dalic for the next five-year term. Davor Doko and Ljiljana Sapina will also remain on the Management Board, while new members are Milan Tadic and Ivan Ostojic.

According to the announcement, the five-year term of the new Management Board of Podravka begins on February the 24th, 2022.

Martina Dalic, who was appointed to this position on February the 4th, 2021, will therefore remain in the position of President of the Management Board. With this recent decision, the Supervisory Board confirmed its satisfaction with the work and the results achieved under Dalic, entrusting her with running the company throughout the next, full term.

Along with Martina Dalic, members of the Management Board who are set to remain are Davor Doko and Ljiljana Sapina, who were first appointed back in February 2017, and as new members it includes Milan Tadic, Podravka's General Manager for the Adria Region, and Ivan Ostojic, who comes from Wustenrot. Ostojic is also a member of Podravka's Supervisory Board and his term in the Management Board will begin on July the 1st, 2022, Podravka's statement said.

Podravka also pointed out that the Supervisory Board thanked the current members - Marko Djerek and Hrvoje Kolaric for their contribution to Podravka through their membership in the Management Board of the company.

Marko Djerek is now a member of the Belupo Management Board, which continues to be led by Hrvoje Kolaric, according to Podravka's statement.

As the President of the Supervisory Board, Zelimir Vukina stated: "The fact that we've completed the election process and decided on the composition of the new Management Board almost a month before the current Management Board's term is set to begin is the result of the Supervisory Board's focus on continuously improving the quality of corporate governance and approaching global standards for Podravka's size and complexity.''

Congratulating the President and the appointed members of the Management Board, he said that they expect the new Management Board to achieve the goals of the strategic plan for the next five years and especially the further growth of the company, both organically and through acquisitions.

''We expect the intensification of investments in raising the overall technological level of production processes as a prerequisite for greater innovation and maintaining high product quality, the motivation and loyalty of our employees and a contribution to increasing the quality of life in the local community, all of which will be the best indicators of the success of the new Management Board,'' said Vukina.

Martina Dalic stated that the opportunity to lead Podravka together with her colleagues from the new Management Board is understood as an expression of trust placed in her over the next five years, but in the same way as it did a year ago, for her, it represents an "extremely great responsibility".

"It's my responsibility to achieve Podravka's success on the global market and increase value for shareholders, and it's also to improve things for the local community through the continuous improvement of the position and satisfaction of all our employees. Podravka is a Croatian multinational company whose heart is and will always be in Koprivnica. I expect the Management Board to function as a team, focused solely on the growth and development of Podravka through dedicated and determined implementation of the development and investment cycle that we started in recent months,'' said Martina Dalic, who then thanked the members of the Supervisory Board and all shareholders for their trust in her.

It's worth noting that the largest shareholders of Podravka are Croatian pension funds (mandatory and voluntary) which together hold 51.1 percent of Podravka's shares, while the state has 25.5 percent of Podravka's shares.

For more, check out our business section.

December the 7th, 2021 - The Croatian Podravka brand is aiming to strengthen its position on the more wealthy European markets, and Martina Dalic says this is an ambitious goal of hers.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jolanda Rak Sajn writes, an even bigger and stronger Croatian Podravka brand is an ambitious goal that has been entrusted to the new President of Podravka, Martina Dalic, since the beginning of this year. This aim has the strong support of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the pension funds, which are the main shareholders of the Koprivnica food giant.

Behind the prematurely deceased Marin Pucar, one of the most important regional companies, which is the holder of most of the development of a good part of the Croatian food and retail industry, remained on good foundations, with excellent results and a stable position across many markets.

However, even in this difficult and uncertain year affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the Croatian Podravka brand has maintained high growth rates with even greater focus on consumer preferences and conquering potential markets in Western and Central Europe while maintaining a dominant position and strengthening competitiveness in the Adria region where Podravka has been in business for more than 70 years,

In the first nine months of this year, the Podravka Group generated a net profit of 259.3 million kuna, 23.4 percent more than in the same period last year. Sales revenues amounted to 3.38 billion kuna, as well.

The Nutrition segment generated 2.6 billion kuna in revenue and Pharmaceuticals generated 749.5 million kuna, with the largest contribution from the Prescription Medicines category, which increased by 5.4 percent in total. Revenues from the sales made by Podravka d.d. in the first nine months of 2021 amounted to 1.65 billion kuna, which is 3.9 percent more than in the same period last year.

Just like last year, due to the epidemiological situation, there was an increase in demand for Podravka's products and the creation of large stocks of customers in almost all markets, and this year's growth has been even more significant.

Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, revenues grew even more, by 5.4 percent, and sales revenue growth was achieved in almost all business programmes. In the Western Europe region, it amounted to 9.5 percent, and the highest growth was generated by the Culinary, Podravka food and Baby food, sweets and snacks segments.

In Central Europe, growth stood at 4.4 percent, and in the Adria region 2.9 percent. The price of a Podravka share on September the 30th this year amounted to 664 kuna, and on the last day of 2020, it was 485 kuna, which is an increase of 36.9 percent.

In accordance with the Strategic Plan of the Podravka Group for the period 2021-2025, adopted after the arrival of Dalic, the company began investments worth 5 billion kuna in production and logistics modernisation and digitalisation, marketing and acquisitions.

The five-year plan includes both divisions of the group, Nutrition and Pharmaceuticals (Belupo), through three development pillars - about 1.7 billion kuna of investment in the modernisation and digitalisation of production and logistics processes, about 1.4 billion kuna in marketing for organic growth and around 2 billion kuna for acquisitions.

The future rapid growth and development of the Podravka Food Division will be based on product categories with greater export potential such as food additives, soups and bakeries, and a focus will be placed on Europe's richer markets. Self-sufficiency will be increased through agricultural production and cooperation will be strengthened in order to reduce import dependence and stably manage risks in the primary part of the supply chain, including through the use of EU funds.

The Croatian Podravka brand recently received 19.4 million kuna in grants from the Rural Development Programme for the modernisation of fruit and vegetable processing plants, the development of new technologies and new products of Kalnik with a total value of more than 38 million kuna, and 5.2 million kuna for the construction project involving solar power plants, worth a total of 10.33 million kuna.

Belupo, on the other hand, is preparing for stronger growth across Central and Western Europe.

For more, check out our business section.

October the 31st, 2021 - The much loved Croatian company Podravka has been recording some excellent sales growth across important markets, and despite the negative economic circumstances the coronavirus pandemic has dragged the entire world into, things are looking up for this enterprise.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, revenues from the Croatian company Podravka's sales for the first nine months of this year amounted to a very impressive 1,651.4 million kuna, which is 3.9 percent more than what was recorded back during the same period last year. Since last year, due to the poor epidemiological situation, there was an increase in demand for Podravka's products and the creation of increased stocks with customers across almost all markets, making this year's growth is even more significant.

If, for example, we compare the Croatian company Podravka's revenues with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, then revenue growth this year is even more significant, standing at 5.4 percent.

Sales revenue growth this year was achieved in almost all business programmes, among which the most significant growth of 5.2 percent was recorded in the Culinary business programme. The aforementioned growth in this particular segment was achieved mainly due to the growth of revenues from the sale of Universal Food Additives and Soups.

When it comes to sales revenue by region, growth was achieved across all of this company's key markets. Particular emphasis is placed on revenue growth of 9.5 percent in the Western Europe region, where growth was achieved in almost all business programmes, of which the largest growth was generated by the Culinary, Podravka food and Baby food segments.

It is worth noting that the other two most significant regions also achieved sales revenue growth, of which in Central Europe there was a growth of 4.4 percent, while the Adria region achieved sales revenue growth of 2.9 percent.

When we look at the business results of the Podravka Group for the first nine months of this year, an impressive 3,383.5 million kuna in sales revenue was generated. This realisation represents growth of 1.6 percent compared to the year before. Higher sales revenues are the result of revenue growth in two important business segments - Food and Pharmaceuticals. The Nutrition segment generated 2,634 million kuna, while Pharmaceuticals recorded 749.5 million kuna in sales revenue, with the largest contribution from the Prescription Medicines category, which increased by 5.4 percent.

The net profit of the Croatian company Podravka for the aforementioned period amounts to 259.3 million kuna and is higher by 23.4 percent when compared to the comparable period from one year before.

It's worth mentioning that the price of Podravka's shares on September the 30th this year amounted to 664 kuna, while back on December the 31st, 2020, they amounted to 485 kuna, which is a promising increase of 36.9 percent.

For more, check our our dedicated business section.

ZAGREB, 29 Sept, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) Crobex index on Wednesday decreased by 0.21% to 1,983 points, while the Crobex10 increased by 0.03% to 1,126 points.

Regular turnover was HRK 13.3 million.

Again, the most traded stock was the Podravka food company, which turned over more than HRK 4 million, closing at a record-high HRK 636 per share, up 1.3%.

Podravka has been recording an increase in turnover for three weeks, during which time its shares have mainly been bought by the Pivac meat industry, which holds 3.18% of Podravka's equity.

Forty-four stocks traded today, with 12 increasing in price and 20 decreasing, while 12 were stable.

(€1 = HRK 7.489688)

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ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices went up on Tuesday, the Crobex by 0.15% to 1,971 points and the Crobex10 by 0.16% to 1,204 points, with regular turnover reaching HRK 8.6 million.

The most traded stock was the Podravka food company, turning over a little more than HRK 3 million. It closed at HRK 596 per share, down 0.33%.

The ordinary share of the Adris tourism and insurance group turned over HRK 2.7 million, closing at HRK 470 (+2.17%), while its preferred share turned over HRK 1.09 million, closing at HRK 417 (+0.48%).

Thirty-six stocks traded today, with 14 gaining in price, 11 losing, and 11 staying the same.

(€1 = HRK 7.483597)

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September the 13th, 2021 - An 87 million kuna renovation for the Podravka office building is set to take place, with a company from the continental Croatian town of Krizevci being ''the chosen ones'' for the job.

As Novac/Vedran Marjanovic writes, Podravka's Supervisory Board approved the Management Board's decision to invest a massive 87.7 million kuna in the renovation of the company's office building, and to conclude a contract with the construction company Radnik (Worker) from Krizevci for the job, the much loved Koprivnica-based company announced yesterday.

The renovation of the Podravka office building includes IT and energy reconstruction, as well as its modernisation. The current Podravka office building was built back in 1979 and hasn't been renovated for practically 42 years.

With this, the reconstruction project, which has been being planned for many years now, has entered the implementation phase, and includes a seven-storey office building, a restaurant, a car park and the surrounding area, Podravka announced, adding that the works will begin on October the 1st this year and will be completed in July 2022.

During this time, according to the announcement of the Koprivnica company, employees whose workplace is in the Podravka office building will be relocated to other locations in the company.

Podravka pointed out that the renovation of the company's office building will be financed from its own sources, without any borrowing involved. They added that the renovation of the Podravka office building is being done in its existing dimensions and that the investment framework is appropriate for a challenging business year with careful cost management.

When it comes to the selection of Radnik d.d. from Krizevci as the contractor, Podravka revealed that three rounds of collecting bids from contractors were conducted and that the selection was based on the project of renovation of the office building prepared by the company Forma-Biro, also from Koprivnica.

The amount of the investment in the renovation of the Podravka office building refers to construction works, the mechanical installations, works on the facade and those on the electrical installations, according to the Koprivnica company, noting that the renovation project incorporates elements of material artistic value of the building.

The reconstruction of the office building, Podravka noted, will improve the company's energy efficiency, corporate and information security and ensure that the new requirements of the prescribed standards are met in the time after the coronavirus pandemic.

For more, follow our business section.

July the 24th, 2021 - The Croatian company Podravka has managed to achieve 197 million kuna in net profit, despite all of the issues caused by the ongoing pandemic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the net profit of the Croatian company Podravka in the first half of this year reached an impressive 197.6 million kuna, which is 22.3 percent more than in the same period last year, the company announced on Thursday.

At today's meeting, the Supervisory Board of Podravka confirmed the unaudited results of the Podravka Group's operations for the first half of the year, expressing "satisfaction and support for all efforts made to continue the company's continued profitability growth in these still difficult business conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic,'' in a statement.

In the first half of the year, the Nutrition segment generated a net profit of 136.3 million kuna, which is 13.9 percent more than the year before, while the Pharmaceuticals segment generated a net profit of 61.3 million kuna, or 46.3 percent more, which doesn't come as a shock considering the global public health crisis we're still embedded in.

The Croatian company Podravka's sales revenue in the first half of the year amounted to 2.2 billion kuna and was one percent lower when compared to the comparable period of 2020.

The expected decline in sales revenue compared to 2020 is actually the result of unusually large orders and the creation of additional stocks with customers in March last year caused by the introduction of lockdown in most countries where the Podravka Group operates, the statement said.

It is also stated that when, for example, the total sales revenues from the first half of this year are compared with the comparable period of pre-pandemic 2019, then revenues are actually 4 percent higher, which shows positive trends for the company's business operations.

Within the Nutrition segment, the largest increase in sales revenue in the first half of the year was achieved in the Culinary business programme in the amount of 2.5 percent.

The Croatian company Podravka points out that the business programme(s) Baby Food, Sweets and Snacks also recorded an increase in sales revenue in the amount of 1.7 percent, while the growth in sales revenue was also recorded in the Podravka food segment, in the amount of 2.4 percent.

In the Pharmaceuticals segment, the largest growth was recorded in the Prescription Drugs category, whose sales revenues increased by 4.3 percent when compared to the first half of 2020.

When observing sales revenues by region, within the Food segment from Podravka, point out the growth of sales revenues in the markets of Western Europe and overseas in the amount of 8.2 percent when compared to the comparable period last year.

In these markets, sales growth was achieved in almost all business programmes, of which the largest absolute growth was generated by the business programmes Culinary, Baby food, sweets and snacks and Podravka food.

The Pharmaceuticals segment achieved the largest relative growth in sales revenue of 13.9 percent within the Central Europe region, due to higher sales in the Prescription Drugs category, the statement said.

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