Croatia's Jadroplov shareholders endorse capital reduction plan

Under the decision, the nominal value of each of Jadroplov's 1,636,674 shares will be cut to 10 kuna from current 50 kuna, the company said in a statement.

Thus, 65.47 million kuna will be freed to cover the best part of the loss accumulated as at the end of 2018, while the remaining loss of 10.7 million kuna will be covered from future earnings, Jadroplov said.

The company noted that the capital cut and the subsequent elimination of the accumulated loss represent one of the final steps in its ongoing restructuring and consolidation process.

In July, the Croatian government approved the withdrawal of a 48 million kuna state-guaranteed loan by Jadroplov from local lender Hrvatska Postanska Banka (HPB). The ten-year loan aims to support the implementation of the company's 2015-2019 restructuring plan.

In January, the government approved another ten-year loan, worth 55 million kuna, which Jadroplov took from the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), also in support of its 2015-2019 restructuring plan.

The company reported earlier it swung to a consolidated net profit of 126.2 million kuna in the first nine months of 2020, from a 51 million kuna loss in the same period of last year, as total revenue more than doubled to 301.2 million kuna, while total costs decreased 7.4% to 175 million kuna in the period under review.

The government controls a 63.6% stake in Split-based Jadroplov through Croatia's centre for enterprise restructuring and privatisation, CERP. The Croatian Pension Insurance Institute, HZMO, owns 6.8%, also through CERP, while the remainder belongs to smaller shareholders, Zagreb bourse data showed on December 7.

(1 euro = 7.54026 kuna)