ZAGREB, June 4, 2019 - Croatian companies in 2018 earned more than 28.3 billion kuna in net profit, which is a significant improvement compared to the year before, when they incurred a net loss of close to 3.1 billion kuna, shows a report published by the Financial Agency (FINA) on Tuesday.
A total of 131,117 Croatian enterprises that are subject to profit taxation, not including banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, in 2018 earned revenues in the amount of 751.2 billion kuna and their expenses totalled 715.4 billion. Compared to 2017, the total revenue was 8.6% higher while expenses were 4% higher.
A profit amounting to 46.9 billion kuna in total was earned by 88,824 businesses (68%) while 42,293 businesses (32%) incurred losses in the amount of 18.7 billion kuna in total.
Compared to 2017, the profit earned by businesses rose by 15.2% while the loss dropped by 57.4%, resulting in a net profit of more than 28.2 billion kuna. In 2017, a net loss of slightly below 3.1 billion kuna was incurred.
The highest revenue in 2018 was reported by the INA oil company, in the amount of 18.4 billion kuna, and INA also reported the highest profit, of 1.3 billion kuna.
The Konzum retail chain had the highest number of employees, 9,419, a drop compared to 2017, when it employed 10,487 people.
Croatian businesses in 2018 employed 939,954 workers, which is 48,428 workers or 5.2% more than in 2017.
Most of the businesses, close to 29,000, operated in the commerce sector, and they earned the highest revenue, of 251.2 billion kuna, while businesses in the manufacturing sector employed the most workers, more than 241,000, an increase of 2.4% from 2017.
The average monthly net wage in 2018 was 5,584 kuna, 4.1% more than in 2017, when it amounted to 5,366 kuna.
Broken down by size, most businesses were micro businesses - 117,943 or 90%, followed by small businesses, 11,317 or 8.6%, medium businesses, 1,498 or 1.1%, and large businesses, 359 or 0.3%.
All groups of businesses ended the year 2018 with a profit. The net profit of micro businesses was slightly more than two billion kuna, small businesses earned 6.6 billion kuna in profit, medium businesses earned 7.8 billion, and large businesses 11.8 billion.
A total of 19,594 Croatian businesses exported their products in 2018, and foreign sales accounted for 147.2 billion kuna of total revenue, an increase in exports of 8.6% from 2017.
In the same period, 132.4 billion kuna worth of commodities was bought on foreign markets, with the trade surplus totalling 14.8 billion kuna.
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