Croatia's Fortenova boosts 9-mo cons adjusted EBITDA by 20%

The overall consolidated revenue rose 38% on the year to more than 30 billion kuna in the nine months through September, the company said in a press release, quoting preliminary results. It will release more detailed nine-month results next week.

On a like-for-like basis, excluding the effect of the integration of Slovenian retailer Mercator, the revenue from continuous operations grew by 15% on the year during January-September, mainly on the back of a good tourism season, significant operational improvements and partly due to high inflation, it added.

In April, Fortenova become the sole owner of retailer Mercator, the leading grocery retailer in Slovenia, with significant market shares in Serbia and Montenegro.

Fortenova's supermarket chain Konzum is the leading grocery retail chain in Croatia, whilst Konzum and Mercator have a significant combined market share in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Earlier this month, UAE investor Saif Alketbi said he has wrapped up a deal to buy the 43.4% stake in Fortenova Group held by Russia's top lender Sberbank - a transaction which Fortenova said lacked the necessary approvals.

(1 euro=7.544 Croatian kuna)