July 29 (SeeNews) - Croatian diversified conglomerate Adris Grupa [ZSE:ADRS-R-A] said on Friday its first-half net profit edged up 0.8% on the year to 150.7 million kuna ($22.4 million/20.1 million euro).
The group's operating income dropped 24% on the year to 2.2 billion kuna in January-June, while operating expenses fell 28% to 2 billion kuna, Adris said in a filing with the Zagreb bourse.
The company's tourism business saw a slight drop through June as hotel operator Maistra experienced a 3% fall in overnight stays. However, an increase in the average price of an overnight stay boosted operating income by 5%.
In 2016, Adris plans to invest some 400 million kuna into expanding and modernising its tourism offer.
Adris Grupa's fish farming and processing unit Cromaris boosted its sales by an annual 11% in the first six months, with exports up 16%. At the moment Cromaris is generating 80% of its sales abroad. It experienced an 18% growth in revenues through June and realised a net profit of 7.2 million kuna, up from last year's 900,000 kuna.
The group's insurance arm, Croatia Osiguranje, saw a net profit of 62 million kuna in the first half, up 55% on the year. It recorded an increase in consolidated gross written premiums of 1% to 1.8 billion kuna. The company had a 38.7% share of the non-life insurance market in Croatia and a 20.6% share of the life insurance market. It remains the leader on Croatia's insurance market with an overall market share of 32.9%, up 0.4% on last year.
Last November, Adris Grupa said it intends to list abroad in 2018, adding it plans to invest over 4 billion kuna in 2016-2018 in order to increase the valuation of its existing operations.
(1 euro=7.48493 kuna)