In the space of a year, Korinthian Foods turned a net loss of €1.1 million into a net profit of €282,000. But the striking point is not just the return to profitability. The company, based in Solomos, Corinthia, and operating in contract catering and prepared meals, increased sales by 17.1% to €9.75 million.
But that increase alone is not enough to explain the turnaround in its results. The answer lies a few lines further down, in the income statement. The cost of sales came to €6.506 million, down from €6.515 million, gross profit rose 79.1% to €3.24 million and the gross margin widened by 11.5 percentage points, from 21.7% to 33.3%.
But how did a business operating in a sector with significant raw material, staffing and operating costs manage to increase its margin so sharply? The improvement could be linked to a different mix of contracts, higher selling prices, better use of production capacity or cuts to specific expenses.
The financial report does not provide enough detail by business activity to establish which of these factors contributed most.
There was, however, a second source of improvement. Net operating expenses fell to €2.58 million from €2.80 million. Administrative expenses edged down, while selling expenses fell more sharply, from €1.21 million to €1.10 million.
The combination of higher gross profit and lower operating expenses resulted in operating profit of €659,000, compared with an operating loss of €992,000. Pre-tax profit came to €381,000, compared with a loss of €1.28 million, and the company posted a net profit of €282,000 after tax.
Meanwhile, Korinthian Foods has been carrying out an investment plan since 2023 to build a new facility for producing prepared meals. According to management, the main production facilities began operating in October 2025, while the completion of auxiliary buildings and supporting infrastructure is expected during 2026.
The expansion, however, is being financed to a significant extent with debt. Total bank borrowings stood at €6.97 million at the end of 2025, up from €3.66 million. Over the same period, cash and cash equivalents increased to €666,000 from €179,000, while total liabilities reached €14.22 million, up from €9.02 million.
Management is cautiously optimistic about 2026, expecting turnover to rise further through contract renewals with existing customers and the winning of new projects. The company operates at a range of catering service locations, including university premises and other organisations.