Loss-making sale of business in Russia weighs on Vičiūnai Group's 2024 profits

The group „VG Holding“, owned by the Mayor of Kaunas, Visvaldas Matijošaitis, and his business partner, Liudas Skieras, which is involved in the production and trade of crab sticks and fish products, transport and other activities, sold its business in Russia in 2023, and as a result of the loss-making transaction, made a consolidated net loss of EUR 23 million last year.

„The Group's net loss was impacted by changes related to the Group's continuing and non-continuing operations,– according to the 2024 report filed with the Registrar's Office. 

In 2023, the Group had a net profit of €45.73 million. 

The group's consolidated revenue fell 1.6% year-on-year to €546.2 million (€555.2 million in 2023), according to the report. 

„The partial decline in revenue was driven by a greater focus on higher-margin products and improving the profitability of the basket of goods“, – the document says. 

BNS said in June that „Vichyunai Group“ and its manager „VG Holding“ had sold their businesses in Russia and other eastern markets – a total of 15 companies – for around €102 million in April last year. 

Dainius Matijošaitis, a member of the board of directors of the Vičiūnai Group, told BNS at the time that the group had made a loss on the transaction because the book value of the shares was slightly higher than the amount of the transaction. 

BNS said, based on data from the companies' accounts, that „Vichyunai Group“ its directly owned Kaliningrad crab stick and fish products factory „Vichiunai-Rus“ and its trading company for these products, „BaltKo“ (100 per cent of each of the two companies' shares), had not been acquired. The sale of the company's shares (100 per cent of the shares) and other indirectly owned companies in the East for EUR 76.7 million.

At the time, „VG Holding“ received approximately EUR 25.4 million for the sale of the Russian companies „Fort Trans Logistika“, „LK Centrus“, „Frost logistics“, „RefTerminal“ and „ViciRusTrans“ as well as companies operating in other eastern ports.  

In addition, the Group announced in its 2024 Annual Report that on 20 June, its holding company „Viciunas ir partneriai“ signed a loan agreement with „Swedbank“ for EUR 65 million to finance a new plant.

„Vičiūnai ir partneriai“ announced at the end of March that it was starting construction of a new €100 million salmon processing complex in Plungė.

After the project is completed, the company expects to increase its salmon and salmonid processing capacity from 18,000 to 50,000 tonnes per year, with annual revenues increasing from EUR 150 million to EUR 500 million, employing around 900 people and exporting more than 95% of its production to Western Europe, the USA and other Western markets. 

Earlier this year, „VG Holding“ established a company in the US, „VG Trading“. 

V. Matijošaitis and L. Skierus each own 50% of „VG Holding“.