According to the annual report of the Pertunina owner, the Russian-owned steel group SIJ, net profit is double that from 2014 and substantially above the EUR 92,000 generated in 2015.

The Ptuj-based company's management underscored that Perutnina retained the position of the poultry market leader in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The sales were down by EUR 1.7m from 2015 and by as much as EUR 11m from 2014, but the company improved the bottom line by turning to export markets and increasing value added.

To the largest extent the improvements is attributed to savings in the costs of raw material, packaging and some other materials as well as structural changes in the sales process.

Lower revenue is blamed on lower sales prices of core product range due to the situation in the European poultry market, while volume sales were up by 4% from 2015.

Comprising 18 companies in seven countries, the poultry group increased its headcount by 170 to 3,687 at the end of last year.

After substantially decreasing in recent years, the company's net financial debt increased last year by EUR 4.9m, and is to increase by EUR 10m due to planned investments and asset acquisitions.

Long-term financial debt at the end of last year amounted to a good EUR 58m and short-term liabilities a little over EUR 15m.

The net financial debt-to EBITDA ratio was reduced by 0.76 points to 1.38, with the target for this year being to halve it.

Perutnina Ptuj generated 65% of sales in foreign markets, the bulk in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia and 25% in all other countries. Exports rose by 1% from 2015, mainly due to 25% higher sales in Switzerland.

Almost 90% of sales were under own brands. Pertunina's best known brand, Poli, accounted for 8% of all sales.