Klas: Better don’t talk about profit in H1/2008

Sarajevo / BA. (wib) Bosnia´s biggest flour milling and bakery company Klas DD had a first-half 2008 net profit of 113’000 BAM (58’000 EUR), down from 947’000 BAM profit it made in the year ago period – despite a rise in sales, media in Bosnia and Herzegovina reported. Klas´ main activities include the development, manufacture and sale of food products (flour, bakery products, confectionery, noodles, pasta and medicinal herbs) and management of the company´s mills, bake houses and shops. Klas sells its products on the domestic market (120 shops and 90 mini bakeries, Google Finance says) and exports them to the European Union countries, the United States and the Middle East countries. In May Klas announced plans to grow its exports by ten percent in 2008 and supplying retail chains in the European Union and Switzerland. To achieve its goal, Klas planned to invest 25 million BAM to upgrade its bakery and confectionery facilities and to build a new distribution centre. The company also planned to spend three million BAM in takeovers of local peers and six million BAM in environment-friendly technology. The company´s 2007 exports were worth 7,4 million BAM, accounting for seven percent of its total sales. So we assume, that all in May announced intentions are in progress and eating up the biggest piece of profit now – temporarily.