Atria ‘moderately satisfied’ with Q2 results amid pandemic

The CEO of Scandinavian meat and poultry producer Atria says the company can be “moderately satisfied” with its sales and profitability as it navigated COVID-19-related challenges during the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year.

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(Yurii Bukhanovskyi, Bigstock)
(Yurii Bukhanovskyi, Bigstock)

The CEO of Scandinavian meat and poultry producer Atria says the company can be “moderately satisfied” with its sales and profitability as it navigated COVID-19-related challenges during the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year.

During the most recent quarter that consisted of the months April, May and June, the Finland-based company reported net sales of EUR366.3 million (US$429.46 million), a small decline from the same quarter of 2019, when the company reported net sales of EUR368.9 million.

The profit before taxes for the quarter was EUR3.6 million, down from the EUR3.7 million reported for the second quarter of 2019.

“Taking account of the exceptional situation caused by the coronavirus, we can be moderately satisfied with sales and profitability in the second quarter,” CEO Juha Grohn said in the recently released half-year financial report.

“Sales in the second quarter were unusual. Households stocked up supplies at the end of March, and sales of basic products for preparing food at home were particularly brisk. Demand leveled off quickly in April with sales over Easter, for example, being lower than normal. Sales in May were also sluggish. In June, the easing of restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus increased demand in all of Atria’s business areas and sales were also good. The warm weather also drove sales in June.”

Operations and employee health

Grohn noted that operationally, the second quarter ran smoothly for Atria, thanks to health and safety measures the company put in place.

“Very few employees have been ill with the coronavirus, and plants have continued operations. Our measures to prevent the spread of the virus have been shown to be effective,” he said.

Grohn is encouraged by news that the spread of COVID-19 “has been brought under control” in the company’s home markets and that “people now can and dare to move about and also consume.” However, he said Atria has reason to prepare for swings in sales volume.

Atria, according to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, has operations in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Estonia.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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