Atria forecasts improved profitability in 2021

For a number of business reasons working in its favor, Finland-based meat company Atria Group has raised its guidance on Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) for this year. The firm has recently announced it has started to include information on the climate impact on product labels in its home market.

(ilixe48 | Bigstock)
(ilixe48 | Bigstock)

For a number of business reasons working in its favor, Finland-based meat company Atria Group has raised its guidance on Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) for this year. The firm has recently announced it has started to include information on the climate impact on product labels in its home market.

Group earnings are affected by demand across sales channels, the profitability of exports, and the effects of cost inflation, according to Atria Group. For 2021, these trends are looking favorable for the company. As a result, Atria has adjusted its guidance for EBIT in 2021 to EUR41-48 million (US$48.9-57.3 million). EUR37-43 million was the previously issued guide figure.

Atria attributes this unexpected improvement to a number of factors. Among these are increased pork exports from Finland to China, positive developments in its sales generally, and effective cost controls during the first half of this year.

Furthermore, Atria reports that the adverse impacts of the operations of Pit-Product on its operations on its overall business were brought to a close earlier that forecast. At the end of April, Russian agri-food giant Cherkizovo agreed to acquire Atria’s Russian subsidiary. The acquisition was completed of the two processing plants in early May.

Also supporting the adjustment to forecast EBIT, Atria expects that the current fast and positive developments in the global meat market will impact positively in its main markets. The group operates primarily in the retail and food-service sectors in Finland and neighboring Sweden. While global demand for red meat continues to be weak, poultry meat consumption is recovering more quickly.

In its statement, Atria warns that there may still be repercussions of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that began early in 2020 and are on-going. With the earlier national restrictions on hospitality and a range of food service outlets, Atria switched sales to retail channels. While such government restrictions are easing in many countries, consumers’ purchasing power may take some time to return to pre-pandemic levels. 

More on Atria Group

According to WATTPoultry.com’s Top Poultry Companies  database, Atria Group is one of leading meat producers in Nordic countries, with operations in both the poultry and pork sectors. Based in Finland, it also has operations in Sweden, Russia, and Denmark. In 2019, the group had slaughterings of 43 million birds.

Last month, Atria announced it is restructuring its production in Sweden. This will result in the closure of its facility in Malmö, but include investment in another of EUR30 million.

Starting this month, Atria’s poultry products in the shops in Finland will include a carbon footprint label. Stated as carbon dioxide equivalents, the label will show the climate impact for the whole production chain of each product. 

“Atria has set a goal of being a pioneer of sustainability in its industry,” said executive vice president for sustainability, Merja Leino. “We are constantly working on promoting environmental issues. By calculating the carbon footprint of our farms, we will have a better understanding of where the emissions of our operations come from, and how we can reduce them. This is one step on our journey to a truly carbon-neutral food chain by 2035.”

Page 1 of 1576
Next Page