In accordance with expectations of Kofola management, the Group’s sales dropped by 8.4% during the first three months, but excluding the economic results in Poland, sales have grown by 0.4%. The Group’s EBITDA margin was lower by 48.7% for the first quarter. The UGO brand has made the biggest improvement within the Group’s portfolio, proving its very strong potential with sales results showing year-on-year growth by 31%, i.e. by 702 thousand EUR. In June 2017, Kofola plans to support the growth of the UGO brand by the acquisition of a fresh salad producer. That should help the brand to better cover the present demand for healthier food.
“The economic results are in line with our expectations,” says Daniel Buryš, the Financial Director of the Group, and adds: “Our economic results have been most influenced by the ongoing reconstruction of our business in Poland, investments in our staff wages, increased prices of ingredients and the corresponding rise in the prices of our products. It is good news that the sugar production quotas will end this autumn after a very long time and the price of sugar should therefore drop at the end of this year.” On the other hand, the economic results have been positively influenced by the Adriatic region with sales growing by 16.4%. The Czech and Slovak Republic recorded stable sales.
Regarding this prospect Daniel Buryš says: “We cannot influence the price of ingredients and the change of course in Poland will have to be completed. These influences will probably have a further impact on our economic results in the coming months. However, our priorities for this year remain unchanged and that is a fact. Apart from investments in our own brands in Poland, we are going to support the fast-growing brand UGO and to integrate the last acquisition of the Croatian company Studenac into our Group. We are entering peak season and most of our activities are orientated towards that.”
The UGO brand has been making the Group proud, as its sales from 75 bars, offering fresh beverages and salads, have been growing for several quarters in a row. The growth for the first three months of this year was 31%, i.e. 702 thousand EUR. Due to this Kofola announced that they expect to take over the fresh salad production division of the company Titbit in June to further support UGO. “Thanks to that, we will extend our portfolio of fresh food for retail shops and will also be able to better respond to the demand for fresh fruit and vegetable juices and salads,” adds Daniel Buryš.
