Ahead of the publication of its latest quarterly results, Finland-based food company Atria Plc has announced profit is higher than expected.
For the current financial year, Atria has amended its guideline for this year's adjusted Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT).
The firm reports that its latest poultry processing plant at Nurmo, Finland, has successfully come on stream, offering the prospects of business expansion as well as improved production cost-effectiveness.
As a result, the company is forecasting positive EBIT development ahead of last year, when adjusted EBIT was reported at EUR49.6 million (US$54.0 million).
While there is uncertainty over consumer purchasing power and sales development over the second half of this year, Atria assesses its market position to be generally good.
Furthermore, Atria reports that it has developed strong trading relations with partners in China. It expresses the hope that this will help to support the development of its pork exports to China, even if customs duties on food imports into China were to be raised by the Chinese government.
Publication of Atria’s first-quarter 2024 results is scheduled for July 18.
More on Atria
Annual slaughterings of 45 million birds put North European food company Atria Plc among the leading poultry companies in Europe, according to WATTPoultry.com’s Top Poultry Companies survey.
Based in Finland, the company has operations in Sweden, Denmark and Estonia, as well as its home market.
For the last full fiscal year, Atria reported year-on-year increases in sales to more than EUR1.75 billion, while adjusted EBIT was up only marginally. At that time, the company announced it would be focusing on different areas of the business in its four countries of operation over the following 12 months.
Earlier this year, Atria announced it had completed the acquisition of Gooh, a Swedish manufacturer of convenience foods.
