Less than two years after reporting losses of €13.5 million, Italian meat packer Cremonini is well on the way to strong profit growth in 2003, with pre-tax earnings rising by nearly 299 per cent to €52.9 million in the first nine months of the year.
The company has focused its efforts over the last 18 months on expanding its business into new high-margin sectors and on reducing its high debt level - moves which are already paying off.
Cremonini said that EBITDA for the first nine months of the year was ahead 11.4 per cent at €92.3 million on the back of sales up 12.7 per cent to €1.34 billion. Pre-tax, pre-interest profits were up 22.9 per cent at €52.5 million.
The strong rise in pre-tax profits was due almost entirely to the acquisition of a further stake in the Marr group earlier in the year, but even without this, pre-tax earnings were some 50 per cent higher at €23.9 million.
All three of Cremonini's operating units showed good growth during the period. The Montana unit, which focuses on meat processing, posted sales of €625.2 million, an increase by 12.7 per cent. EBITDA at the subsidiary was up 14.7 per cent at €37.9 million while EBIT of €15.9 million represents an increase of 30.7.
The distribution sector, where the Marr unit operates, saw sales rise 12.8 per cent to €579.5 million, while EBITDA was 5.5 per cent higher at €37.7 million. Marr's EBIT was 16.3 per cent higher at €30.7 million.
Cremonini's third business unit, the Chef Express business which is the leading supplier of catering services for the Italian railways, saw sales grow by 24.6 per cent during the nine months to €176.5 million. EBITDA at the unit was ahead 15.6 per cent to €17.8 million while EBIT reached €10.5 million, an increase of 4.6 per cent.
The company said that third quarter sales had reached €516 million, an increase of 15.1 per cent, while EBITDA was €40.5 million (up 10.1 per cent) and EBIT €26.2 million (up 13.1 per cent).