Where's the beef, Duda?

PKM Duda, a leading meat producer and distributor, saw revenues of zł.318 million in Q1 this year, a 10-percent y/y increase. At the same time, net profit dropped by 64 percent as compared with Q1 2007, reaching zł.5.6 million. The revenues from exports dropped by 12 percent y/y, amounting to zł.34.7 million

The złoty's appreciation against the euro and dollar hindered exports, while a glut of pork meat on the EU market and imports from Denmark and Germany were among factors affecting Duda's lower profit, according to the company. Lingering Russian and Belarusian embargoes on Polish meat products also affected the firm's bottom line.

Duda hopes for better revenues in H2, counting on the price of meat and its derivatives growing by 25-30 percent, the company said last week. "The situation on the food market is improving and the signs of a price rise are visible," the company's president Maciej Duda said.

"We are coming out of an unfavorable trend. Also, the company is counting on distribution activities to give us a boost," he said.

The firm also plans to acquire a mid-sized company from the premium-meat production segment. "There is a chance for the acquisition of ... a company in the second quarter," Duda said, adding that his firm might make one further acquisition before the end of the year.

Duda wants to increase the share of its own livestock in its production, limiting the purchase of pigs from other sources. It also wants to build its biofuels business and carry out investments on farms in Ukraine, as well as modernize newly acquired chicken farms in Poland.

Duda's annual production capacity amounts to 3,720 tonnes of cold meat, 3,600 tonnes of raw meat and the breeding of 67,000 baconers (pigs destined to become bacon). The firm produces 100 tonnes of animal feed per day and leases 15,000 ha of land.