Fortenova Group Closes 2025 as Financially Strong Company News

Konzum Invests Profit in Employee Benefits and Modernisation!

In 2025, Fortenova Group has met its most important financial goal – it reduced its leverage by more than EUR 700 million and realised its first commercial bank financing since its inception in 2019, substantiating the full trust of international financial institutions in its operations.

The Group has thus closed the year 2025 as a financially very healthy company with safe operations and resilience to stress, which is able to cope with possible economic difficulties in the environment more easily.

With more than 38 thousand employees, Fortenova Group is still one of the largest employers in the region of Southeast Europe.

Key financial indicators and investments

Fortenova Group closed the year 2025 with a total debt of EUR 673 million and an exceptionally favourable debt to EBITDA ratio of less than 1.3 times. In spite of the planned reduction in total revenue due to divestments (disposals of companies), the total revenue amounted to EUR 5.6 billion.

Operating profits (EBITDA) grew by 14 % year-on-year due to improved efficiency and cost optimisation.

In 2025, almost EUR 100 million were invested in modernisation (capital investments), and the same amount was invested in Group employee benefits.

The largest adverse effects resulting in the Group’s total revenue reduction against the previous year came from the legislative decree on the limitation of margins and price control on the market of Serbia, as well as short-term external factors such as the consumer boycott in early 2025 and strikes at two of the Group’s production companies.

Despite the external pressure on operations, the Group’s operating performance indicators have remained strong.

On all retail markets additional focus was placed on strengthening the core business, which resulted in absolute year-on-year profitability improvements in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Konzum in Croatia continued to invest in its infrastructure and employees in 2025. Konzum’s profits were invested in increasing employee salaries and capital investments, with the same trend to be continued in 2026. For the eighth consecutive year Konzum was declared The Best Donor (Najdonator).

The beverage production operations recorded growth as well, and the operations of other companies within the Group have continued to be stable.

The last year was marked by the completion of a number of capital investments and preparations for stronger investment momentum in the area of retail development, with investments started in infrastructure modernisation, technological improvements and the extension of our retail networks.

“The significant leverage reduction and the optimisation of financing costs have directly contributed to strengthening our resilience to risks and geopolitical instability. Today Fortenova Group operates with a robust balance sheet and a debt level that unleashes our capacity to start a new investment cycle in the key strategic sectors”, said Damir Spudić, Fortenova Group’s Executive Director of Finance and Member of the Board of Directors, commenting on the results.

Strategic Portfolio Focusing

In accordance with the new development vision, in 2025 Fortenova Group pursued a significant redefinition of its portfolio by exiting the primary agricultural production. The divestment processes were either closed or agreements were entered into for the disposal of the companies Agrolaguna, Zvijezda, Mercator-Emba, Dijamant, PIK Vrbovec and Vinka.

On the other hand, the Group has strengthened its core operations (retail and distribution) with the integration of the companies Arivera Fruit and Kenty Adria, while Roto dinamic extended its base with an additional 500 new partners, having acquired the company Hermo.

At the same time, a large portfolio of Group-owned commercial real estate has become a new pillar of the core business, activated by the foundation of the FNG Property real estate companies.

“The year 2025 saw us complete the process of capital restructuring and raising the company value as much as possible. Our focus is now solely on supporting the development of retail, wholesale, distribution and logistics. We have also laid the foundation for strong real estate operations designed to additionally improve the whole Group’s operating efficiency”, concluded Fabris Peruško, Fortenova Group’s Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors.

Fortenova Group publishes 2023 Financial Statements and Sustainability Report News

With the publication of its audited Consolidated Financial Statements and the Sustainability Report for 2023, Fortenova Group has rounded off a very intensive first half of the year. In particular, after last week’s announcement of a very successful implementation of its ownership transformation and the fact that it no longer has any sanctioned shareholders in its ownership structure, as well as of the decision on having selected Podravka as its partner to continue the process of divesting the agriculture business, in the Financial Statements and the Sustainability Report the Group has now presented its last year’s business operations to the public in detail.

The audited Consolidated Financial Statements disclose the key financial indicators, while the Sustainability Report features a comprehensive overview of the Group’s and its operating companies’ operations in 2023, focusing on the activities in seven key sustainability topics.

When it comes to the financial indicators for 2023, according to the audited consolidated results the Group generated total consolidated revenues of more than EUR 5.8 billion. Adjusted consolidated operating profits were lower than in the year before and amounted to EUR 251 million. The net debt at the end of 2023 was EUR 970 million, while the net debt to adjusted operating profits ratio was 3.86 times. In a year-on-year comparison, all of the Group’s business divisions recorded higher total revenues, while having generated lower operating profits.

“Reflecting on last year’s financial results, it is important to note that, regardless of the specific circumstances that we found ourselves in, which we extensively addressed in the previous days, the Group has accomplished the most important goals planned, particularly having in mind the impact that global economic developments have had on our operations. As expected, the reduced operating profits as compared to the previous year were primarily due to the high increase in costs, particularly of energy and raw materials, and the increase in employee benefits. Nevertheless, despite the growth of our financing costs, the total net debt to adjusted profits ratio is on a satisfactory level” – said Fabris Peruško, Fortenova Group’s Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, commenting on the 2023 financial indicators.

When it comes to the third consecutive Sustainability Report, it contains information about the businesses of 39 operating companies and Fortenova grupa d.d. and indicates key strides made in the area of sustainability in 2023, as confirmed by two awards received by the Group in the previous period. The first one is the Gold Award and the “Regional ESG Leader” acknowledgement for overall ESG achievements, awarded in the competition of large companies from the territory of Central and Southeast Europe by the International Economic Forum “Perspektive” and the company “Promo global”, while the Group received the “Hrvoje Požar” annual award in the category of a realized rational energy management project for the implementation of a comprehensive energy efficiency project. The achievement of energy efficiency is one of the priorities that the Group has intensively been working towards since 2022, when it started to establish the processes of determining all emission sources in its own operating process and the entire supply chain. Following an integral calculation of the carbon footprint from all established sources, studies were prepared in collaboration with the Hrvoje Požar Institute for each of the Group’s 40 companies engaged in different business activities, aimed at reducing their carbon footprint, as well as the pertaining documentation for the implementation of measures for its reduction in the period between 2025 and 2030. At the same time, the plans on reducing the carbon footprint at Group level started to be implemented already over the course of 2023 by initiating projects intended to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the overall consumption, define summer and winter store temperatures, reduce lighting outside the working hours to a security minimum, install LED lighting and close the refrigerated display cabinets in the stores, install higher capacity compressors and economizers on the boilers in specific companies and modernize the vehicles. Thereby, savings of 5 percent were made at Group level in the overall energy consumption.

Another important step was the increase in employee investments, which is particularly important given the total number of workers employed by the Group across the region and the risk arising from labour shortages. Since 2019 the labour costs have thus increased at Group level by almost EUR 200 million, with the Group continuing to invest in the growth of total employee benefits (salaries, performance-related remuneration and various bonuses/rewards), where it has been recognized in the broader environment for actively advocating the search for new and the relaxation of existing models of substituting the insufficient number of the working population in the countries of the region.

Another thing the Group companies have in common is the initiative related to the reduction of food waste, where Konzum HR has for the sixth consecutive year been recognized as the largest food donor in Croatia, while at the same time four Group companies – Fortenova grupa d.d., Konzum HR, Zvijezda HR and PIK Vrbovec HR – have, upon initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, acceded to the Voluntary Agreement on the Prevention and Reduction of Food Waste, “Together against food waste”.

Furthermore, given that it has defined the diversity of representation at all levels, along with achieving gender equality, as one of its ESG goals, over the course of 2023 the Group adopted the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy, with action plans prepared for the implementation of the Policy in 2024.

“The package of information where we have presented in detail everything that we did in 2023 is yet another proof of our dedication to responsible business operations, and in that light our strides regarding sustainability topics should be viewed as well. This, of course, also applies to a number of activities that we have undertaken over the course of last year, related to securing the stability and safety of our operations, particularly when it comes to the financial aspect, but also with regard to different external challenges and abrupt changes to the conditions in which our business operations took place”, Peruško concluded, commenting on the key elements of the Group’s Sustainability Report.

The 2023 Sustainability Report is available at the following link: https://fortenova.hr/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Fortenova-Group-Sustainability-report-2023.pdf

Fortenova Group generates EUR 2.7bn revenue and EUR 101m operating profits in H1/23 News

Fortenova Group publishes its financial results for H1/2023 and its 2022 financial statements.

In respect of the unaudited consolidated statements, for H1/2023 the company generated EUR 2.7 bn of total revenue, outperforming the same period last year by 9 percent. Adjusted operating profits amounted to EUR 101 million. Net debt has remained below EUR 1.1 billion, with the liquidity on the company’s accounts at EUR 279 million. All of the Group’s business divisions have recorded total revenue growth against the same period last year, though with reduced operating profits. The drop in operating profits is primarily due to the large increase in electricity and raw material costs, increase in salaries, as well as the selling price limits for specific product categories imposed by the Governments in the area.

In respect of financial results for 2022, the audited consolidated results the Group presented total consolidated revenues of more than HRK 40.7 billion or EUR 5.4 billion, exceeding the 2021 revenue by 30 percent. Consolidated adjusted operating profits grew by over 20 percent, amounting to more than HRK 2.3 billion or EUR 310 million, along with a positive net result. At the end of 2022 the net debt was slightly below EUR 1.1 billion, with a leverage ratio of 3.44 times (as per Lender defined terms), which represents half of the leverage ratio that the Group had in 2019, the year of Fortenova Group’s foundation. Cash on the company’s account at year end was EUR 290 million.

“The Group’s operating results continue to show that Fortenova Group has managed to separate its operational performance from its ownership issues, where the presence of sanctioned co-owners in the structure makes it more difficult to achieve a sustainable and efficient capital structure. With the recently executed refinancing with our existing lender HPS, we will no longer have sanctioned entities on the credit side of the Group which delivers on our plans “– said Fabris Peruško, Fortenova Group’s CEO and Member of the Board of Directors.

“The Group delivered outstanding results in 2022 with the growth with the highest ever cash EBITDA and the first full year positive net result coming only from ongoing operations. H1 2023, has as expected been more challenging given the impact of inflation on costs and consumer income and purchasing power. The Group has so far shown considerable resilience given these headwinds with the Retail Group in particularly continuing to perform very well.” – said James Pearson, Fortenova Group’s Chief Financial Officer.

Along with the financial performance indicators, Fortenova Group has also disclosed a thorough and comprehensive overview of the Group’s operating performance in 2022 in its second consecutive Sustainability Report, where it has presented a number of activities and initiatives related to the process of establishing the strategic framework for sustainability management. Those activities have had positive effects on all the markets on which the Group operates – among its customers, clients, business partners, in the local community as well as among its employees and other stakeholders.

The Group is particularly focused on working on its sustainability and on publishing the Sustainability Report, in spite of the numerous challenges that it faced last year. “At no point has this called into question our commitment to one of the company’s strategic priorities – the realization of our sustainability goals and the positioning of Fortenova Group as a responsible corporation. The Report has presented our most important actions when it comes to environmental, social and governance topics in the Group to the broader public and, moreover, offered an in-depth insight into our operations and our environmental impact. We see this thorough annual analysis of all our constituents as an excellent lever in improving transparency and raising awareness of our priorities” – Fabris Peruško concluded.

As presented in the Report, as part of each of the seven key topics that constitute the strategic sustainability framework, in mid-2022 the Group established internal working groups with a view to defining measurable initiatives for the period until 2030. Thus, for example, standing out within the “GHG Reduction” topic there is the project of Scope 1, 2 and 3 calculations for all Fortenova Group companies, intended to set up an action plan for achieving climate neutrality, while as part of the “waste management” topic, all Beverages Group companies are currently implementing the project of introducing the tethered cap. Konzum, for example, initiated the project called Recyclopedia, intended to educate consumers and prevent the creation of food waste in households and was declared the Best Donor for the fifth consecutive time. Along with encouraging short supply chains, a Supplier Code is in preparation as well. Last year the Group also conducted surveys regarding gender equality on all markets and adopted a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy. An important aspect of the Group’s strategic framework is also the topic of initiating a project to identify climate risks and opportunities and build sustainability criteria into investment decisions.

Fortenova Group presents detailed operating results for I-IX/2022 News

Fortenova Group presented its detailed results for I-IX/2022 to the DR Holders, having confirmed the continuing excellent operating trends in all of its core businesses. As opposed to the preliminary results for the first three quarters that Fortenova Group had presented last week, this presentation featured the same key performance indicators in more detail, as shown in this presentation. The factors with the greatest positive impact on the growth of all of the Group’s performance indicators were the excellent tourist season, significant operational improvements, as well as inflation.

In I-IX/2022 Fortenova Group has thus generated total consolidated revenues from continuing operations of HRK 30.3billion or EUR 4 billion, which is an increase of 38 percent in a year-on-year comparison. Net of the effects of the Mercator integration, total revenues from continuing operations were 15 percent higher compared to the same period of 2021.

At the same time the consolidated adjusted EBITDA of the period has grown 22 percent against last year’s and amounted to HRK 2.1 billion or EUR 275 million. In spite of the high cost of debt and the increased costs of energy and labour, in the first nine months of 2022 Fortenova Group generated profits from continuing operations in the amount of HRK 534 million, which is an improvement of HRK 918 million against last year’s loss of HRK 384 million.

At the end of September Fortenova Group had a cash position of almost HRK 2 billion on its accounts. In parallel, it has continued to reduce its leverage and brought the net debt to adjusted EBITDA, according to the definition of its creditors, down to 3.58 times at the end of the period, thus having halved it from 7.2 times which was the leverage ratio at the point of Fortenova Group’s incorporation.

In comparison to the non-consolidated results at the end of Q3 2021, the 18 companies from the Group’s core businesses – Retail and Wholesale, Food and Agriculture – realized 12 percent more total revenue, while the non-consolidated EBITDA of the core businesses grew by 11 percent.

Retail and Wholesale thus realized 9 percent higher revenue and 9 percent more EBITDA. When it comes to revenue, that growth was supported by numerous activities of the company related to price optimisation and network expansion, and partly also the high inflation, while the focus on store optimisation, synergies and energy saving measures resulted in higher EBITDA. The wholesale segment owes its 18 percent better result primarily to the recovery of the HoReCa channel. Among Fortenova Group’s retail companies, the best results were generated by Konzum Croatia, Mercator B&H and Mercator Serbia, which recorded revenue increases of more than 10 percent. In general, inflation also had the largest adverse effect on the results in retail, having increased the prices of products and services as well as labour costs.

The Food Division companies, on the other hand, were under strong pressure of higher logistics costs through the growth of fuel and raw material prices. Nevertheless, Fortenova Group’s Food Division overall generated as much as 24 percent more revenue, driven by both higher sales and inflation, with all of the companies having recorded double-digit revenue growth compared to the same period last year. A higher growth of EBITDA was neutralized by the aforementioned higher raw material prices, input cost inflation and salary increases and amounted to 2 percent compared to 1‑9/2021.

Revenues in the Agriculture Division grew 7 percent, primarily accounted for by pig breeding, cattle breeding and milk production, while EBITDA grew by 60 percent, mostly due to the growth of agricultural commodity prices and the strong control of operating costs.

Business results

Konzum Invests Profit in Employee Benefits and Modernisation!