Business

ZAGREB, 29 April (2022) - The Podravka Group generated a net profit of HRK 88.8 million in the first quarter of 2022, a decrease of 15.6% over the same period in 2021, the Koprivnica-based food company said in a financial statement on Friday, noting that the direct cause of the decreased profit was the Ukraine crisis. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was 7.7% lower while net profit was 15.6% lower than in 2021, which is a direct result of the Ukraine crisis, Podravka said in a press release. Sales revenue amounted to HRK 1.18 billion, or 8.6% more compared…

ZAGREB, 29 April (2022) - In 2021 Croatia was among EU countries with the lowest level of employment, below the European average, a report by the Eurostat statistical office indicates. In 2021, the share of employed people in the EU population was 73.1%, corresponding to 189.7 million people, up 1.4 percentage points from 2020, the first pandemic year, Eurostat said. This was a higher rate than for the pre-pandemic year 2019, when 72.7% of the population was employed. The employment rate in the eurozone in 2021 was 72.5%, the same as in 2019. In 2020 it was 71.2%. Croatia with…

ZAGREB, 29 April (2022) - Retail sales in Croatia continued to rise in March 2022 for the 14th month in a row and at a faster rate than in February, indicating further recovery of the national economy, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) reported on Friday. Retail sales increased by 2% from February 2022 and by 3.6% compared with March 2021. March 2022 was the 14th consecutive month to see a year-on-year increase in spending, and at a faster rate than the month before, when it increased by 0.3%. "The uncertainty and high inflationary pressure have already impacted individual... indicators such as retail turnover, with…

ZAGREB, 28 April 2022 - Croatia Airlines generated a loss of HRK 114.9 million in the first quarter of 2022, which is 19% more than in the same period of 2021, mostly due to the rise in fuel prices, the national flag carrier said a financial statement on Thursday. Total revenue reached HRK 213 million, increasing by 88% from Q1 2021, while expenditure rose by 56% to HRK 328 million. Compared with Q1 2021, the company flew 200,721 passengers, which is an increase of 178%. The number of flights rose by 113% and the number of passengers went up by…

ZAGREB, 28 April 2022 - Visa on Thursday presented Digital Croatia, a project supporting SMEs and trade businesses with the aim of increasing card payments between them. Visa's Croatian director Renata Vujasinović said the wish was to help small Croatian businesses in the recovery process. Digital Croatia, she added, is part of Visa's efforts at European level for more than eight million SMEs. In Croatia, Visa's goal is to increase card payments by 25%, she said. The main goal of Digital Croatia is to step up the development of a digital payment network, so for six months Visa will offer free POS terminals…

April the 28th, 2022 - The Italian ABS is investing a massive 200 million euros into the once rather problematic Sisak ironworks according to recent Italian media publications. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, the once somewhat troublesome Croatian steel plant in Sisak will soon get a large cash injection according to Italian media, which have reported that the executive board of the ABS Group, owned by ABS Sisak, approved the company's investment programme worth a total of 400 million euros, and part includes the construction of a new iron rolling mill in Sisak. The Italian company announced that this is…

  April 28, 2022, Osijek, Croatia – A pioneering company in the FPV industry merges with a leading drone technology startup to create an EU-Based drone powerhouse, as Orqa acquires ImmersionRC. The deal brings together two of the most exciting companies in the FPV space, whose products and business ethos are a perfect fit. ImmersionRC, based in Switzerland, has been specializing in advanced electronics for a decade and is one of the pioneers of the FPV drone space. By contrast, Orqa was only founded in Croatia in 2018, but has quickly become a global leader in the design and manufacturing…

April 27, 2022 - Last year, foreign citizens bought 9,514 properties of real estate in Croatia, which is a high increase of 50 percent compared to 2020. According to research done by Jutarnji List with information from the Croatian Tax Administration, the highest year-on-year growth in the purchase of real estate in Croatia among foreigners was achieved by citizens of Germany, Austria, and Slovenia, reports tportal.hr. Last year, German citizens bought 2,637 properties in Croatia, which is an increase of 1,089 sales or even 70 percent compared to 2020, Austrians made 1,109 purchases (472 more properties or an increase of 74…

ZAGREB, 27 April 2022 - The volume of industrial sales in Croatia in February 2022 was 21.9% higher than in February 2021 and 6.9% higher than in January 2022, according to figures released by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.  Compared with February 2021, industrial sales increased by 19.3% on the domestic market and by 25.7% on foreign markets. Broken down by main industrial groupings, sales of durable consumer goods increased by 46.6%, sales of energy by 44.0%, sales of intermediate goods by 32.3%, sales of capital goods by 16.2% and sales of non-durable consumer goods by 11.3%. Industrial sales had been on…

ZAGREB, 27 April 2022 - The government forecasts a 3% rise in GDP in 2022 and it expects the budget deficit to narrow to 2.8% of GDP, and the government debt to fall to 76.2% of GDP and an inflation rate of 7.8%, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said opening a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The government expects real GDP to increase by three percent in 2022, which will be followed by a growth of 4.4% in 2023, then 2.7% in 2024 and 2.5% in 2025. A gradual narrowing of the budget deficit is expected and that being 2.8% of GDP in 2022, 1.6% in 2023…