The Board of Directors of La Doria – a leading Italian group in the production of tomato derivatives, sauces, legumes, and fruit juices for large-scale retail chains – has approved the 2021 half-yearly report. The results go beyond expectations.
During the six-month period, La Doria Group’s priority continued to be supplying markets with its products and ensuring the safety of its employees. “In this still extraordinary context – reads the BoD report – the economic and financial results achieved as of June 30, 2021, appear very positive”.
LA DORIA BY THE NUMBERS
In terms of profitability, the Group achieved an excellent result with gross operating income up +22% – with an increase of +14% in the second quarter after the already significant results achieved in the second quarter of the previous year. The improvement in margins was achieved in all product categories with the exception of the “Sughi” (Sauces) area, which remained stable.
Manufacturing activities carried out by the parent company La Doria SpA and its subsidiary, Eugea Mediterranea SpA, registered a decrease in revenues of -10%, in line with expectations due to the reduction in volumes sold, which are returning to normal compared with the peak demand of 2020. Margins improved considerably thanks to a positive trend in sales prices, especially for the “Linea rossa” (a line dedicated to red preserves).
Trading, carried out by the subsidiary undertaking, LDH, in the UK market, also registered a reduction in revenues of -4.4% due to a fall in sales volumes in the fruits, legumes, and other lines, whilst certain product categories, such as ready-made sauces, continued to grow strongly. The red line grew as well. The margins of the UK company appear to be down on those of the first half of 2020 due to the decrease in sales volumes, but also to higher inventory costs. These were due to the build-up of high levels of stock in the last quarter of 2019 to deal with the potential risk of a hard Brexit, which was then averted in December 2020 with the agreement between the EU and the UK.
In 2020, LDH completed the major investment launched in 2018 as part of the group’s plan to build a major, highly automated logistics platform for the storage and handling of goods for distribution in the UK market. The platform started operations in the fourth quarter of 2020 and became fully operational in early 2021.
THE TARGETS FOR THE FUTURE
Commenting on the results, La Doria chairman Antonio Ferraioli said, “The group has archived very positive results in the first half of 2021. Ebitda appeared to grow further after the excellent performance in 2020. In the second quarter, it was better than expected despite the comparison with the worst phase of the pandemic. We are therefore fully confident in confirming the 2021 targets set out when the 2020 results and the 2021-2023 Business Plan were published. The following months and years will see La Doria committed to pursuing the priority objective of consolidating its international leadership in the private label vegetable preserves sector”.