Zreče - Unior, a Zreče-based group specialising in forged metals and tools, continues posting positive business results, having generated EUR 8.1 million in profit in the first nine months of the year after posting a loss of EUR 4.9 million in the same period last year.

The core company's profit topped EUR 2.1 million, while it recorded a loss of almost EUR 10 million in the same period last year.

Net sales revenue until the end of September reached EUR 180.4 million, which is EUR 30 million or 20% more than in the same period last year.

The net revenue of the core company totalled EUR 130.3 million, which is EUR 34.6 million or over a third more than in the same period in 2020.

The supervisors also took note on Thursday of the business results in the first ten months, when the state-owned company recorded EUR 141.5 million in net sales revenue, which is more than 27% more than in the same period last year and 4% above plans.

Despite the problems in the supply of electronic components in the car industry, the Unior group's orders in the production of forged parts, its main activity, were stable until the end of August. But then the first signs of potential problems emerged, as some of its buyers extended summer breaks into September.

With additional problems emerging in September, including with the supply of other components, car makers were forced to suspend assembly lines, so Unior saw a drop in orders, the group said on the web site of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

However, the group is seeing record orders in production of hand tools, which it attributes to the growth of the segment of specialised hand tools and sales to new buyers in the past years.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the machine manufacturing programme, which currently lacks new orders, as clients are more cautious in ordering new investment equipment.

The pandemic has particularly affected the group's tourism division Unitur, whose spa and ski resorts operated at a very limited capacity in the first five months of the year.