LJUBLJANA: Slovenia's Krka reported first-quarter net profit of 40.2 million euros ($45.8 million), down 27 percent from a year earlier, hit by currency effects from the Russian rouble.
Sales in Russia, its largest market, rose by 10 percent in volume but fell by 9 percent when expressed in euros due to the lower value of the Russian rouble.
Krka said group sales rose to 300.9 million euros from 289.3 million. Krka, which is Slovenia's largest listed company, confirmed its forecast for profit to reach 160 million euros this year, from 158.2 million in 2015, on sales of 1.2 billion euros.
"The sales are up as expected while the profit is slightly below our expectations but I believe Krka can still meet its profit forecast for this year," said Saso Stanovnik, chief economist of investment firm Alta Invest. He said the results should not have a major impact on the share price which is likely to move between 60 and 62 euros in the coming weeks.
"A significant growth of Krka's share price will only be possible once the economic situation in Russia stabilises," Stanovnik added. By 1105 GMT, after the results were released, shares of Krka were unchanged at 60.41 euros, giving the company a valuation of around 2 billion euros.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.