Finland-based meat processor Atria has revealed it is investigating the possibility of making structural changes in Russia.
The company said the review may lead to the sale of its operation in the country.
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Atria said it may also “re-organise” its fast food restaurant business Sibylla.
The announcement came as Atria released its annual results for 2018. The company’s group net sales reached EUR1.44bn (US$1.63bn), on par with last year. Sales from Atria’s Russian operation were down at EUR75.1m (EUR85.7m in 2017).
Announcing a “renewal of its strategy”, Atria said: “The key objective of the renewed strategy is the rapid improvement of business operations in Russia, which means increasing sales and margins as well as turning the profit trend into a positive one.
“As part of the strategy project, Atria is also exploring possibilities of divesting Atria Russia business operations. At the same time Atria is also evaluating the possibility to reorganise the global legal structure related to its Sibylla fast food business.”
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By GlobalDataJuha Gröhn, CEO of Atria, said: “In the future, we will increasingly focus on our core business and the healthy growth of our businesses.”
In August Atria announced it was centralising pork production at its plant in Nurmo, Finland, and in September it said it planned to invest in two plants in its home market to increase the production of poultry products.
Atria’s EBIT stood at EUR28.2m in 2018, down sharply from EUR40.9m in 2017. Pre-tax profits were EUR22.3m, versus EUR35.5m the previous year.
