January the 30th, 2023 - The largest investment in the blossoming nautical tourism sector to ever have occurred in the Republic of Croatia - ACI Marina Rijeka, will likely see this sector of tourism excel in an unimaginable way.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the largest global nautical fair, Boot Dusseldorf (Germany), reopened its doors this year after a two-year break due to the spread of the global coronavirus pandemic, and ACI d.d., the largest chain of marinas in the entire Mediterranean, presented its impressive project for the construction of the future ACI Marina Rijeka, the 23rd port of nautical tourism in its huge system.

With 230 moorings with an average length of sixteen metres, the future ACI Marina Rijeka will primarily aim to transform Rijeka from a traditional transit port into an important tourist and nautical destination, aimed at guests with deeper pockets.

After two pandemic-dominated years, Boot Dusseldorf gathered all the leading global representatives of the nautical industry together, and on that occasion, ACI d.d. presented key current events in its business operations. At the same time, the project of building the future ACI Marina Rijeka in the nautical tourism port of Porto Baros was in the foreground. As the Croatian public already more or less knows, this is the largest investment in nautical tourism in the history of the country, worth around 50 million euros in total.

ACI will realise this investment together with the company GITONE Kvarner, which is owned by the Lurssen group, the world's most famous manufacturer of luxury vessels. The joint company ACI-GITONE received a thirty-year concession for the construction and establishment of this new Rijeka marina, which will certainly stand out among the ports of nautical tourism in the entire Mediterranean with its capacity, luxury and technological attributes.

The future ACI Marina Rijeka represents a key element in expanding the portfolio of the two companies involved, but also in changing the vision of the City of Rijeka and improving the quality of life of the local community. The project for the construction of the new ACI Marina Rijeka is extremely important for Croatia's national competitiveness, especially in the tourism and economy segments, which will certainly be reflected in the growing tourism indicators in the future.

As many as 1,500 exhibitors partook in this year's edition of the fair, spanning sixteen halls in total.

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ZAGREB, 20 July 2022 - The ACI marina chain earned HRK 98 million in operating revenue in the first half of 2022, which is 4.6 million more than in the same period of the record-breaking 2019, its financial statement shows.

In the first six months of this year, the company invested HRK 47.9 million in infrastructure and services, compared to the 44 million invested in the whole of 2021.

Sales revenue increased by HRK 15.6 million, or 20%, to HRK 94.6 million. Profit was HRK 3.2 million, following a loss of HRK 4.6 million in H1 2021, while EBITDA increased by HRK 7 million, or 24%, to HRK 36.2 million.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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April the 14th, 2022 - ACI Marina's operating profit has shot up when compared to last year's recorded revenues, not to mention the fact that there has been significant growth in terms of the amount of vessels.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, last year, this well known company recorded sales growth of 35.9 million kuna when compared to the previous year, as well as growth of physical indicators of 38,000 ship days, according to an annual report released on Tuesday. Based on the daily connection service, there was an increase of 22.6 million kuna or 67 percent when compared to the comparable period.

Moreover, the third quarter (in some segments) exceeded pre-pandemic 2019, the company pointed out. Last year, a positive gross financial result in the amount of 17.1 million kuna and EBITDA in the amount of 83.7 million kuna were also achieved, which is a marked increase of 13.3 million kuna.

"The results we managed to acheive for the year 2021 are above our expectations, especially given the uncertainty and unknowns that marked the previous year and with which we entered 2021. The modification and adjustment of business processes to these new circumstances and the results of our work so far primarily reflected on maintaining financial stability and ACI liquidity,'' said the President of the Management Board, Kristijan Pavic.

The extension of concessions is a prerequisite for further strategic investments and the expansion of ACI Marina's investment portfolio, which in 2021 amounted to a total of 44 million kuna. 23.5 million kuna was invested in the reconstruction of the breakwater in the ACI Marina Korcula, while 7.9 million kuna was invested in infrastructure works in the ACI Marina Dubrovnik.

Significant investments in infrastructure and services were realised at ACI Marina Vodice (2.9 million kuna), ACI Marina Skradin (1.5 million kuna) and ACI Marina Trogir (1.4 million kuna).

In the coming period, the largest investment in nautical tourism in the history of the Republic of Croatia will follow, ad together with partners it will start building the ACI Marina Rijeka.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of July, 2020, in addition to preserving jobs and employee health, the main goals for the second part of 2020 are to maintain a stable financial position of ACI and adjust operations to new market conditions, according to Kristijan Pavic, President of the Management Board of ACI d.d.

According to unaudited business results, Adriatic Croatia International Club for marinas d.d. (ACI) generated an impressive 72.9 million kuna in revenue in the first six months of 2020, while the EBITDA for the same period amounted to 21.4 million kuna. The published data shows that the operation of the largest marina system in the entire Mediterranean, in spite of the global COVID-19 pandemic that affected the economy and the entire nautical and tourist season, has remained remarkably financially stable. The fact that the past period was relatively successful for ACI is evidenced by the data on investments following investments that were previously committed to, in the total amount of 28.5 million kuna.

The first half of business during a tumultuous 2020 was marked by business being done in adapted conditions due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The operation of ACI's marinas continues to be carried out under a special regime, in compliance with all of the recommendations and measures at both the local and national level. In line with operating in these new, changed conditions, ACI provided more favourable conditions for boaters in all 22 marinas across the Adriatic during the month of June.

This resulted in revenues of 51.8 million kuna for annual berth services, which is almost at the level of revenue generated in the period from January to June 2019, which amounted to 51.9 million kuna. Also aware of the fact that nautical tourism is much more than just boats and berths in marinas, ACI has directly helped its business partners in the past through the abolition of charter fees, the abolition of the need to pay rent during the ban on most services, as well as the possibility of using free daily berths during the month of June, thus ensuring long-term business continuity and maintaining a high quality of service across all ACI marinas.

"Taking into account all the objective circumstances in which ACI's business took place, aware of the significant impact of events in business 2020 on the economy and tourism industry, we can say that we're satisfied with the results achieved in the first half of 2020, according to which we've recorded revenue of over 70 million kuna. In addition to preserving jobs and employee health, the main goals for the second part of 2020 are to maintain the stable financial position of the company and to adjust operations to new market conditions,'' said Kristijan Pavic of ACI.

As a leading nautical company, ACI d.d. is responsible for the development of nautical tourism across Croatia. ACI operates 22 marinas with over 5,800 berths.

The operation of ACI marinas is significantly affected by concession agreements, which (in most marinas) last until 2030 because the extension of the concession period is a prerequisite for the further realisation of long-term investments of the company, but also for expanding the range of services offered, raising their quality and achieving significantly better business results.

"Bearing in mind the importance of the nautical segment for Croatian tourism, ACI and its partners insist on a high quality and meaningful nautical offer and the further development and adaptation of services for all domestic and foreign sailors who choose the Croatian coast for their vacation," concluded Pavic.

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The biggest investment in ACI history, the new ACI Marina Rovinj, which was built after a 150 million kuna investment and categorized with 5 anchors, was opened this Friday at a ceremony attended by the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and several other ministers from his cabinet.

The new ACI Marina in Rovinj is one of the biggest marinas in Croatia, located right next to the recently opened Grand Hotel Park, the most luxurious hotel in that part of the Adriatic Sea. The marina consists of two separate parts: one for the vessels in transit, and the other one for the vessels staying there throughout the year. It has 196 berths and can accommodate boats of an average length of 17 meters. It can accept boats up to 35 meters for a yearly stay, and much longer boats in transit.

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, Construction Minister and deputy Prime Minister Predrag Štromar and Sea, Traffic and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković were present for the opening as well. Plenković pointed out that this is one of the ways to show how important Istria is to the Croatian government, as it is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Croatia.

Minister Butković complimented the combination of ACI Marina Rovinj and Monte Mulini Zone, as an example of a well-thought-out strategy for co-operation between two separate, independent companies who understand that working together brings added value to the destination.

ACI Marina Rovinj now has 1400 square meters of commercial surface area, exclusive restaurants, bars, lounge bars and similar, general stores, shops by the world famous brands, representatives selling luxurious yachts, charter agencies, service center for the boats and a lot of other things the guests coming to a destination on their boats might need. There will be 100 parking spaces in the marina's garage and 50 more in the marina itself.

Turkish company Dogus Group has sold its shares in Croatia’s ACI marina chain to pension funds. The company confirmed that it had sold 10.87 per cent of ACI to pensions funds, namely, the AZ category B mandatory pension fund, the AZ Profit voluntary pension fund, and PBZ Croatia Osiguranje, reports Jutarnji List on March 30, 2019.

“We are proud of the fact that we, along with the owner, the Republic of Croatia, were the second largest shareholder of this valuable strategically-important company. D-Marin Group, the global network of marinas which operates as part of the Dogus Group, has recently been growing and expanding its business network, and we had acquisition bids for the ACI shares for some time. We believe that this valuable asset will be in good hands,” announced Dogus.

They added that the sale of shares in ACI was in no way a confirmation of the rumours about Dogus' sale of assets in Croatia, but just the opposite. Namely, late last year rumours emerged that the well-known group, due to the economic crisis in Turkey, was forced to sell off property, including real estate and businesses in Croatia, but the Dogus quickly denied the rumours, claiming they were not leaving Croatia nor were they selling Villa Dubrovnik, which was in the focus of the speculation.

Dogus announced that the sale of ACI shares would strengthen their position and that they remain dedicated to all their companies and the further improvement of their business results. Also, they have confirmed that their Maraska Hotel project in Zadar, which has been paused for a while, will soon be implemented.

“Although at this point, we cannot announce the specific date given that we are on the eve of the tourist season, we are close to the beginning of the works, and we are currently drafting certain project changes, primarily related to the residential zone," said Dogus.

In late 2018, the media reported that Maraska Hotel would be the first Dogus investment in Croatia after the group completes the restructuring process in Turkey, but it is still uncertain whether their partner will be the Hyatt hotel brand or whether they will look for an alternative.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Dora Koretić).

More news about Dogus Group can be found in the Business section.

The value of the transaction is estimated at approximately 21 million euro, which allegedly includes 7.5 million euro of debt.

ZAGREB, August 1, 2018 - Croatia's nautical tourism company Adriatic Croatia International Club (ACI) posted a 12% annual increase in revenues in the first half of 2018, which totalled 93.04 million kuna, while expenditures decreased by 1% to 83 million kuna, making the gross profit 9.99 million kuna, as against a loss of 895,000 kuna in H1 2017, according to a financial statement released on Tuesday.

ZAGREB, February 28, 2018 - Croatia's nautical tourism company Adriatic Croatia International Club (ACI) last year generated a net profit totalling 20.3 million kuna, which is nearly 86% more than in 2016, ACI said in a press release on Wednesday.

The ACI Company has announced the sale of its Jeanneau one design fleet which made sailing history in Croatia. At the ACI Match Race Cup the Jeanneau 35 sailboats were skippered by some of the best global helmsmen, such as Russell Coutts, Peter Gilmour and Dean Barker