Millions in profit, investment in new production capacity and a €2m caveat from the statutory auditor. That is the mixed picture presented by Nera Kritis.
The bottling company maintained its profitability and increased sales, but the statutory auditor issued a qualified opinion, identifying overdue, doubtful and disputed receivables totalling €2.015m. The company has made a provision of just €21,000 for these, while the auditor estimates that an additional provision of €1.994m is required.
The difference is not insignificant. As the report notes, the lack of a provision means that both receivables and shareholders’ equity are overstated by the same amount (€1.994m).
Last year, the company’s sales rose by 1.38% to €32.79m. Gross profit was almost unchanged at €15.06m, while the gross margin fell to 45.94%. EBITDA came to €6.12m, down from €6.20m, while net profit fell by 25.96% to €2.1m.
The second point of interest is financing. Total liabilities reached €61.02m, up from €56.84m. In particular, long-term liabilities to related parties rose to €25.60m from €21.77m. At the same time, short-term liabilities fell by €5.30m, mainly following an agreement to repay a debt to a company with common ownership interests over the coming years.
On the production front, Nera Kritis continued to invest, including in a new bottling line in Varypetro, Chania, an expansion of plastic packaging production in Ypato, Boeotia and solar installations with a total capacity of 5 MW.