Investments reached RON4.1 million in 2023, down 62% on the year, while the EBITDA margin was 1.1%, down 25% on the year, as per the company’s financial report published at the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
The 2023 net result consisted of RON3.7 million loss compared to profit of RON10.5 million in 2022. Expenses dropped by 23.3% to RON45.7 million, as the company switched to operating loss of RON653,496, compared to operating profit of RON14.9 million in 2022.
The budget of revenue and expenditure, which will be subject to shareholders’ vote on April 29, shows that Norofert targets a turnover of RON51.7 million in 2024, compared to RON36 million in 2023, as per the IFRS report, where the company also envisages net profit of RON2.5 million in 2024.
“The Company maintains a cautious approach, bearing in mind that volatility in the European agricultural market is still high. The current situation is generated by many factors impacting the sector and the economy, including the general lack of liquidity caused by the difficult financial situation of Romanian farmers, low grain prices caused by imports from Ukraine and Russia, and high input prices compared to grain prices”, according to Norofert representatives.
“At the Zimnicea farm, at the time of writing this current report, the company is working on pivot irrigation systems for an area of approximately 340 ha with a deadline of completion in the spring of 2024. After the completion and commissioning of the
first round of irrigation, the Company intends to start measurements and design for another 350-400 ha irrigated. The Company’s objective is to transform, through irrigation, the Zimnicea farm into a business line that generates liquidity predictably every year, regardless of weather conditions,” said Vlad Popescu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Norofert.
NRF shares have lost 3% so far in 2024 and 27% in the last 12 months, amid deals worth RON3 million and RON13 million, respectively. Valued at RON75 million on the AeRO market, the company is 31.1%-owned by Vlad Popescu, 14.8% by Ileana Popescu and 12.3% by Marius Alexe.