ZAGREB, 28 July, 2021 - The Kraš confectionery group generated a net profit of HRK 21.9 million in the first half of 2021, an increase of HRK 8.6 million or 64.2% over the same period in 2020, according to its financial statement released on Wednesday.

Consolidated revenue reached HRK 488.2 million, up by HRK 30.4 million or 6.6%, with sales revenue totalling HRK 481.4 million. Sales revenue increased by 15.8% to HRK 257.7 million on the domestic market and by 9.1% to HRK 220 million on the foreign markets.

Expenditure increased by 4.2% to HRK 461.1 million. 

(€1 = HRK 7.523368)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices rose slightly on Tuesday, with the Crobex increasing by 0.07% to 1,931.03 points and the Crobex10 by 0.08% to 1,193.73 points.

Turnover at the close of the trading session was HRK 7.3 million, about 2.8 million higher than on Monday.

The rise in the turnover was mostly driven by the stock of telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson Nikola Tesla telecommunications, which turned over HRK 3.04 million. It closed at HRK 1,655 per share, up by 2.48% from Monday. 

No other stock passed the turnover mark of one million kuna.

A total of 34 stocks traded today, with 13 of them registering price increases, 11 recording price decreases and 10 remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.528218)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić on Tuesday did not accept proposals for a lower VAT rate on beverages and to treat labour costs as a tax deduction, while a representative of restaurant and bar owners said they would have to fend for themselves the best way they can regarding future challenges.

"My message to all restaurant and bar owners in the country, notably those who run bars, is that a very demanding period is ahead of us and that they will have to seek new loans and funding, despite the fact that we had yet another constructive meeting with the finance minister today. We can hope that in a couple of years we will have better working conditions because now that is not the case and we have not come across any understanding in regard to our proposals," Jelena Tabak, who heads the NUU association of restaurateurs, said after the meeting.

Marić recalled that a lower VAT rate was already in place in the tourism sector for accommodation, food and for the serving of food and that beverages were the only products for which VAT had not been reduced.

Commenting on the proposal to exclude labour costs from the base amount for the calculation of the VAT rate in the hospitality sector, the minister said that neither Croatia's nor the EU's tax systems recognised such a measure.

"In terms of taxation, labour costs are indeed recognised costs but in systems in which they should be recognised - the income and profit tax systems. We cannot mix direct taxes with indirect taxes such as VAT," he explained.

Marić recalled the government's measures to help the business sector, from lower taxes to the cancellation of individual contributions, as well as expanding the scope of nontaxable income, which, he said, had resulted in a rise in employment and wages, as evidenced by statistical data.

He recalled the government's job-keeping measures and coverage of fixed costs in the hospitality sector, stressing that data on fiscalisation showed that the hospitality sector had solid results and that the real peak of the tourist season was yet to come.

Dražen Biljan of the bar owners' association of the NUU Zagreb branch said that they were not happy that their proposals were not accepted and that lowering VAT on drinks would not cost the state too much, around HRK 400 million. It would, however, mean a lot for restaurant and bar owners, he said.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - Economy Ministry officials on Tuesday presented contracts awarded as part of the HRK 326.3 million public call "Increasing Energy Efficiency and the Use of Renewables in Manufacturing Industries", with the total value of the projects to be implemented standing at HRK 672 million.

340 businesses applied to the call, and 28 - five micro and small businesses, six medium-size businesses and 17 big companies - were awarded money from the EU Competitiveness and Cohesion Fund.

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Ćorić said he expected the companies that were given grants to increase their energy efficiency as well as competitiveness as a result of lower energy consumption and increased production efficiency.

He noted that significant funds were envisaged for that purpose also under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and that domestic businesses could expect new calls for applications by the end of this year and the beginning of 2022.

The approved grants must be invested in the next one to two years.

As a small, open economy, in the previous decades Croatia mostly exploited its development capacity in the services sector, including tourism, while now national plans and strategies should put special emphasis on manufacturing industries so that the country can catch up with EU standards, Ćorić said, adding that domestic producers could impact export as one of the key variables of the national economy.

"There will be more calls like this one in the period to come," he said.

For more about ecology in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - In H1 2021, Croatian telecommunication equipment manufacturer Ericsson Nikola Tesla generated a net profit of HRK 101.4 million, up 190% on the year, the ICT company said in a press release on Tuesday.

The company's gross profit amounts to HRK 154.3 billion, up 105.1% on the year.

The company's sales revenues rose by 5% to HRK 1.01 billion in the first six months of 2021. Of the total sales revenues, 44.1% was generated on the domestic market, services to parent Ericsson accounted for 44.9%, while other export markets contributed 11%.

In the said period, sales revenues on the domestic market amounted to HRK 447 million, up 6.2%, while sales revenues on foreign markets (without services to parent Ericsson) increased by 5.7% to HRK 111.5 million.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 July, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices dropped again on Wednesday after going up on Tuesday.

The Crobex decreased by 0.29% to 1,918 points, while the Crobex10 went up by a mere 0.06% to 1,185 points.

Regular turnover amounted to HRK 3.7 million, or HRK 1.4 million less than on Tuesday.

No stock crossed the million kuna mark and the highest turnover, of nearly HRK 879,000, was generated by the stock of the HT telecommunications company. The price of its shares went up by 1.85% to HRK 27.5.

A total of 33 stocks traded today, with 14 of them registering share price increases, 11 recording share price decreases and eight remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.494568 )

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 July, 2021 - The volume of construction work carried out in Croatia in May 2021 rose 15.9% compared with May 2020, and it fell by 0.1% compared with April 2021, according to data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Wednesday.

May was the 12th consecutive month to see the rise in the volume of construction work on an annual level.

Year on year, the volume of construction work to buildings increased by 18% and the volume of construction work to other structures grew by 13%. Month on month, the volume of construction work to buildings fell by 0.3%, while the volume of construction work to other structures decreased by 0.9%.

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 21 July, 2021 - At the end of 2020, 3.45 million Croatian consumers had at least one payment card, which means that of 4.05 million residents, 85% possessed cards for cashless payment,  according to the data provided by the Croatian National Bank (HNB).

The HNB's publication on cards and card transactions in 2020 shows that as many as 8.78 million such cards were registered at the end of 2020, which was down by 4.5% compared to the end of 2019.

Thus, 85% of the population held at least one payment card, more than 29% held at least two payment cards, and 17% three cards.

 Also, 240,264 payment card holders were business entities.

The HNB says that 4.83 million cards were used during 2020, 3.55 million were unused and 0.55 million were blocked.

As many as 6.92 million cards were debit cards (79%), up 0.41%. The remaining 21% (1.85 million) were credit cards, down by 20.32% compared to the end of 2020.

This decline in the number of credit card was ascribed by the HNB to the business decision of American Express to leave Croatia's market.

The HND data shows that there were 21 credit institutions and two electronic money institutions as payment card issuers in Croatia last year.

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 20 July, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange indices increased on Tuesday, the Crobex by 0.43% to 1,923 points and the Crobex10 by 0.33% to 1,185 points, while regular turnover was HRK 5.1 million.

The most traded stock and the only one to cross the million kuna mark was the Podravka food company, turning over HRK 1.8 million. It closed at HRK 582 per share, up 0.34%.

Thirty stocks traded today, 11 rising in price and 11 dropping, while eight were stable.

(€1 = HRK 7.492196)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 20 July, 2021 - For May 2021, the average monthly net earnings per person in paid employment in legal entities in Croatia amounted to HRK 7,104, nominally higher by 6.7% and really by 4.5% as compared to the same month last year, the national statistical office said on Tuesday.

As compared to April 2021, the nominal increase was 0.3% and the real one 0.2%.

The highest average monthly net earnings per person in paid employment in legal entities for May 2021 were paid in Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (HRK 10,756), while the lowest were paid in Manufacture of wearing apparel (HRK 4,401).

Median net earnings for May 2021 amounted to HRK 5,966 kuna.

For May 2021, the average monthly gross earnings per person in paid employment in legal entities amounted to HRK 9,553, a nominal increase of 0.3% and a real one of 0.2% as compared to April 2021.

The average monthly gross earnings per person in paid employment in legal entities were nominally higher by 5.4% and really by 3.2% for May 2021 as compared to the same month last year.

The average monthly net earnings per hour for May 2021 amounted to HRK 41.57, which was 4.3% higher than in April 2021. As compared to the same month last year, they increased by 6.3%.

The average monthly gross earnings per hour for May 2021 amounted to HRK 55.90, which was 4.3% higher than in April 2021. As compared to the same month last year, they increased by 5%.

In May 2021, there were 167 paid hours on average, decreasing by 4% as compared to April 2021. The greatest number of paid hours was recorded in the Human health activities (178) and the smallest one in Social work activities without accommodation (152).

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.