Greece's losses are 13.5 million euros in 2023

FAGE in Greece ended 2023 with an after-tax loss of €13.5 million, compared to a loss of €3.2 million in 2022 despite an improvement in gross margin due to a 31.7% drop in milk prices, according to a company announcement.

More specifically, regarding the balance sheet of the Greek company, earnings before financial taxes, investments and depreciation (EBITDA) were also negative, which consisted in losses of 703 thousand euros from profits of 4.3 million euros in 2022.

According to the company's financial statements published yesterday (4.4.2024) in GEMI, in 2023 it was audited by the tax authorities for the years 2017 and 2018 and an additional tax of 6.8 million euros was imposed on it, which weighed on the results.

However, the company objected to the decisions of the tax authorities and filed an appeal to obtain an amount of 6.7 million euros.

FAGE's turnover (turnover) in Greece decreased by 6.7% in 2023, reaching EUR 152.1 million, mainly due to a 13.8% decrease in foreign sales, which was partially offset by a 3.2% increase in sales in the Greek market.

Total profits amounted to €33.2 million, an increase of 38.2% with gross profit margin rising to 21.8% in 2023, compared to 14.7% in 2022. This increase is mainly due to lower raw material prices and energy costs.

Filippo's management records in the financial statements of the Greek company affiliated with the group, that management and management expenses amounted to 23.1 million euros in 2023, compared to 21.9 million euros in 2022, an increase of 5.7%, mainly due to the increase in advertising costs. The percentage of administrative and distribution expenses from net sales was 15.2% compared to 13.4%, respectively.

It is noteworthy that the results of the exchange differences during the year 2023 amounted to a profit of 1,103 million euros, compared to a loss of 2.2 million euros in the previous year, from valuing the bond in US dollars at the end of the year.

The company, which employs 472 people at its facilities (up from 476 in 2022), last year partially repaid a loan of $20 million or 18.2 million euros, resulting in long-term loans of 27.1 million euros from 46.9 million euros in 2022.

Finally, the Greek company is the guarantor of the bond loan issued by the group's parent company, FAGE International SA and FAGE USA Dairy Industry, Inc., in 2016 in the amount of $420 million with a maturity of ten years at an interest rate of 5.625%. At the end of 2023, the outstanding capital reached $105 million.