June 6 (SeeNews) - Romanian farming products retailer Agroland Business System [BSE:AG] said on Monday it had obtained a 120,000 euro ($128,600) grant through the SME AGRI-FOOD programme.
Agroland will use the capital raised for purchasing raw materials and other materials needed for production, it said in a press release.
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The funding will be supplemented by 18,000 euro of the company’s own cash.
Raw materials and materials, such as natural gas, electricity, and feed, purchased with this funding will reduce the significant price pressure we feel in the new economic context marked by the war in Ukraine and the general inflationary environment," said Horia Cardos, founder and CEO of Agroland Business System.
Agroland Business System also said it has applied for two additional funding programmes amounting to a total of 470,000 euro. If granted, the company will invest 180,000 euro in reproduction farms, while using the rest to finance its current activity.
The company also plans to submit a financing project for a 1MW photovoltaic park at its Avicola Mihailesti egg farm, once the aforementioned financing will be available.
SME-AGRI-FOOD is a branch of the Support for Romania initiative, launched by the ministry of investment and European projects and the ministry of agriculture and rural development, with a total budget of 250 million euro.
Founded in 2009, Agroland Business System is a Romanian entrepreneurial company, which operates a network of 250 stores, all focused on garden, farm, and pet products. The company also owns the Avicola Mihailesti egg farm.
So far this year, Agroland opened three new MEGA stores for a total investment of approximately 2.2 million lei ($477,400/445,100 euro).
The farming products retailer had previously announced it was aiming to open a total of ten MEGA stores nationwide over 2022. The company is also considering investing 17 million lei to develop all business lines.
This comes with the company’s 241 million lei turnover target, as well as its 20.7 million lei EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) and 13 million lei net profit objectives. Agroland also expects for its online sales to reach a 10 million lei milestone in 2022, a 65% increase over the previous year.
Agroland' Business System shares traded down 0.31% at 3.2 lei/share as of 1408 CET on Monday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
(1 euro = 4.9414 lei)