November 2 (SeeNews) - Croatian diversified conglomerate Adris Grupa [ZSE:ADRS-R-A] said on Monday its sales abroad surged 10.3% to 1.5 billion kuna ($218 million/197.7 million euro) in the first nine months of 2015.
Consolidated net profit jumped to 2.83 billion kuna in the first nine months of 2015 from 517.3 million kuna a year earlier, an Adris Grupa bourse filing indicated.
In October, British American Tobacco said it had completed the takeover of Adris Grupa's tobacco making unit, TDR, following a sale agreement signed in July.
Adris Grupa, which also spans tourism, real estate, fish farming and insurance, said that the transaction value amounted to 505 million euro ($556.9 million) after the deduction of TDR's liabilities.
TOURISM BUSINESS UPSIDE TO CONTINUE THROUGH REMAINDER OF 2015
The company's tourism business posted improved results across the board with a 3% rise in overnights in the first nine months of the year to 2.95 million and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) from tourism operations growing 13% to 265 million kuna.
The company said that current bookings confirm its outlook that the tourism business will continue growing throughout the remainder of the year.
FISH FARMING ARM SALES UP 13%
Adris Grupa's fish farming and processing unit, Cromaris, boosted its sales by 13% in the firs nine months of the year while also raising exports by 19%.
At the moment Cromaris is generating 75% of its sales abroad, with the biggest export market being Italy.
INSURANCE UNIT CROATIA OSIGURANJE TURNS TO 9-MO PRE-TAX PROFIT
The group's insurance arm, Croatia Osiguranje, turned to a pre-tax profit of 136 million kuna in the first nine months of 2015 from a pre-tax loss of 178.9 million kuna a year earlier.
Croatia Osiguranje recorded an increase in consolidated gross written premiums of 4% to 2.38 billion kuna in the review period. The company had a 36.6% share of the non-life insurance market in Croatia through September and an 18.1% share of the life insurance market.
On Friday, Adris Grupa said it plans to list abroad in 2018. "Our goal, with the help of leading global consultants, is to prepare the company for listing on one of the world bourses in 2018," Adris Grupa said in a filing to the Zagreb bourse, adding it plans to invest over 4 billion kuna in the 2016-2018 period in order to increase the valuation of its existing operations.
A day earlier, an Adris spokesperson told local newspaper Glas Istre that the company's end goal is a listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2018.
According to Glas Istre, the plans for listing abroad are meant to send a reassuring message to minority shareholders amidst reported pressure on them to cash out coming from Adris shareholder Plinio Cuccurin and Czech-Slovak investment fund J&T, who are planning a hostile takeover.
Earlier this month, J&T told SeeNews in an email "at the moment we have made only preliminary contacts with Adris Group, so we will be able to inform the public about all details of potentially possible cooperation when the necessary conditions will be created."
(1 euro=7.5859 Croatian kuna)