Kofola ups H1 sales by over 25 pct to record Kc3.72bn, while EBITDA drops

Kofola ups H1 sales by over 25 pct to record Kc3.72bn, while EBITDA drops

Ostrava, North Moravia, Sept 1 (CTK) - Soft drinks maker Kofola saw its sales rise by 25.8 percent yr/yr to a record Kc3.72bn in H1, while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA ) fell by 11 percent to Kc418m due to notable cost growth, the company said in a press release today.

Given the development, the company management has revised its full-year EBITDA target to Kc1.08bn up to Kc1.15bn and is going to propose a slight reduction in dividend to Kc11.30 per share from last year's Kc13.50.

"In terms of volumes and revenue, the second quarter reinforced the positive trend from the beginning of the year, when we were doing well in sales - not only year-on-year, but also historically," CEO Jannis Samaras said.

"June's Czechoslovak sales are the highest in history. Like the sales of the entire Group, LEROS, UGO, and the Adriatic region had a very good quarter. In addition, we were able to achieve significant growth in operating EBITDA in these segments," he added.

However, the company is facing extreme cost growth in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which has been reflected in the overall results. "In order to minimize the impact of input growth on the annual financial target, we have adjusted our plans and activities for the rest of the year," Samaras said.

According to CFO Martin Pisklak, the openness of the market has fully manifested itself and increased activity of people could be seen in all markets. "All of this was reflected in increased demand in all segments. Significant year-on-year increases were recorded, especially in On the go and gastronomy segments, which, naturally, have been positively influenced by this trend," Pisklak said.

Sales of the entire group have been growing beyond expectations since the beginning of the year. However, Kofola is facing enormous pressure on the cost side due to high prices of energy, material inputs, and salary costs.

"We have had to respond to this trend by increasing the price of our products and by making savings. We continue to operate in a regime of financial discipline," Pisklak said.

Kofola has entered into an amendment to its loan agreement with banks to change the currency of 60 percent of its loans from crowns to euros, which should lead to significant savings in interest costs, according to Pisklak.

"At the same time, the regular quarterly principal repayments have been reduced. We remain optimistic about achieving our annual financial target," Pisklak said.

Kofola is a leading soft drinks maker in Central Europe. It has 11 plants in five European countries. Its product brands include Kofola, Rajec, Korunni, Ondrasovka, Klastorna Kalcia, Jupi, Vinea and Semtex. The group also includes the UGO fresh and salad bars, Czech herb tea maker Leros, Slovenian company Radenska and Croatian mineral water producer Studenac.

Kofola has almost 2,000 employees.

Kofola's business results (Kc mil.):

	H1 2022*	H1 2021*	yr/yr change 2022/2021	yr/yr change 2022/2021 in pct
sales	3717.1	2,953.7	763.4	25.8
EBITDA	418.0	469.9	-51.9	,

* adjusted for one-off items

Source: Kofola

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