The Supervisory Board of Podravka d.d. confirmed the business results of the Podravka group for 2001 at a meeting held on Monday 8 April 2002. The Podravka Group had a successful year, with a net profit of 62 million kuna. In the period from January to December 2001, the Podravka group had total revenues of 2,699.3 million kuna, which is 4% higher than the previous year. The largest share in the revenue structure relates to the sale of products and services (95%), while the remaining share relates to financial and other revenue.

The revenue of the Podravka group in 2001 from sales is 2,537 million kuna, which is 4% higher than the previous year. From this figure, more than 1,414 million kuna relate to the domestic market, or 55,7%, whereas sales on foreign markets is slightly more than 1,122 million kuna, or 44.3% of the sales revenue for 2001.

Within the structure of sales revenue for 2001, the Vegeta programme has a leading share with 704.9 million kuna, showing a growth of 9% in relation to the year before. The increase in sales compared to the previous year is also seen in beverages (+29%), milling and baking products (+20%), Podravka dishes (+12%) and in fruit and vegetables (+12 ). An evident drop in sales of meat and meat processed products (-9) in relation to the previous year was primarily caused by beef-related disease.

The sales of the Podravka group in 2001 on foreign markets rose by 7% in relation to the previous year, standing at 1,122 million kuna, which accounts for more than 44% of the total sales. The Polish market is the most significant market for Podravka, with a share of 10.5% in total sales and 23.7% of all sales on foreign markets. In relation to 2000, the Polish market recorded a growth of 13%. In relation to the previous year, sales grew in the markets of Bosnia and Herzegovina (+18%), Russia (+55%), Germany (+27%), the Czech Republic (+24%), Yugoslavia (+24%), USA (+13%), etc.

On the domestic market, Podravka recorded sales of 1,414.4 million kuna or 2% higher than the previous year. Sales on the domestic market account for 56% of total sales. Sales growth on the domestic market is seen in all groups: beverages (+28%), milling and baking products (+20%), fruit and vegetables (+13%), Vegeta (+10%), Podravka dishes (+5%), pharmaceuticals (+2%) and the programme of desserts (+1%). If we compare the revenue of the Podravka group for 2001 excluding the sales of Ferrero and yeast, then the sales on the domestic market would be 5% higher than the previous year, whereas in domestic markets, the sales would be 10% higher than last year.

During 2001 the Podravka group organised a number of activities aimed at further growth and development. In May 2001 a new structure of the Podravka group was implemented. This structure was based on eight profit centres (Vegeta, Podravka dishes, Beverages, Programme of Desserts, Milling and Baking, Danica, Belupo). This organisation means transparent insight into the business activities of each particular profit centre, enabling timely decision-making in accordance with clients’ requirements. New representation offices were opened in Kiev for the Ukrainian market, while the newly-opened office in Riga covers the co-ordination of business activities in the Baltic countries. New companies were also registered in Romania and Yugoslavia. Also, Agreements on Exclusive Distribution were signed with Kraš for the market of Hungary. Besides this, Podravka became the exclusive distributor of canned fish manufactured by Adria d.d. for the Croatian market. At the end of the year, Vegeta obtained an ISO 9001:2000 certificate. This certificate covers all business processes which relate to the development, production, sales and distribution of products from the range of supplements to dishes bearing the Vegeta brand.