Marinko Došen was appointed a new president of the Business Council for Economic Cooperation with the Russian Federation at the meeting held in Zagreb. Thanking for the given trust, President of the Management Board of AD Plastik Group presented the draft work program of the Council for this year.

„In Russian Federation the easiest way to conduct business is to localize production. In such a way it is more or less possible to avoid complex administrative and customs regulations and procedures. Unfortunately, the difficulties between our two countries still exist but the most quality way of work is to localize your business in Russia and in such a manner to avoid external political influences that are not in entrepreneurs’ favour. AD Plastik Group has been conducting business in the market of modern Russian Federation for 25 years now. We have two production sites there in which more than 800 employees are employed and we achieve about EUR 45 million of revenue annually. Every Croatian company has an opportunity to find a niche in the Russian market that counts 150 million customers. I am personally a big supporter of the industrialization of the Croatian economy because I think that the industry must have a larger share in our GDP,“ said Marinko Došen on that occasion.

Economic relations between Croatia and Russia have stabilized and they have been growing over the past few years, and Russian Ambassador to Croatia Anvar Azimov said that economic relations always play a leading role and this is why they must keep becoming better.

After the meeting of the Business Council a seminar entitled „How to successfully conduct business in the Russian market“ was held, which presented general terms of conducting business for the EU companies in the Russian market. Special attention was paid to presenting the possibility of conducting business for Croatian companies in the Russian Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the visit to Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is planned by Croatian economic delegation during the first half of 2019.

The Interim Unaudited Report by Management of AD Plastik Group and the Joint Stock Company AD Plastik for 2018 shows the continuation of successful business. Record operating revenue and net profit of the company have been realized, thus operating revenue of the Group amounted to more than HRK 1.3 billion, representing a growth of 21.02 percent.

Realized operating revenue increase and the favorable net financial result have provided a record net profit of the Group amounting to HRK 87.3 million and it grew by 24.3 percent compared to the previous year. In the parent company net profit increased even by 63 percent and amounted to HRK 87.03 million.

„Another demanding and successful business year in which we achieved record operating revenue and net profit of the company is behind us. The past year was marked by preparation of new projects, out of which more than seventy were open and serial production has begun for twenty of them. The year was largely marked by acquisition of the Hungarian company Tisza Automotive, thanks to which we ensured further development and growth in one of the fastest growing automotive industry markets. We are satisfied with the results achieved and deals sealed worth EUR 136 million in the observed period,“ said Marinko Došen, President of the Management Board of AD Plastik Group.

EBITDA amounting to HRK 159.7 million was realized at the Group’s level, representing a growth of 0.8 percent compared to the previous year and in the parent company it decreased by 12.8 percent primarily due to one-time costs of launching new projects.

„The year we have successfully entered will undoubtedly be marked by start of serial production for large contracted projects as well as by further technological advancements. Our customers’ announcements are very good and we expect further revenue growth based on new deals sealed. We will have significant investments in increasing production capacities at the production sites in Croatia and we will also implement new sub-technologies that will add value to our existing product portfolio. By constantly adapting to the industry in which we operate, we have set demanding goals,“ said Marinko Došen.

Financial position of the Group is stable, but it has changed compared to the previous year mostly due to acquisition of Tisza Automotive and somewhat lower EBITDA. The value of ADPL share in the reporting period grew by 4.1 percent, unlike CROBEX which dropped by 5.1 percent. The trend of dividend payments has continued in accordance with the dividend policy, thus in the previous year a dividend amounting to HRK 10 per share was paid out.