Company briefs - 2008-08-06

  • 2008-08-06
Riga International Airport announced a tender for the design and construction of a new terminal to serve low-fare airlines. Airport chairman Krisjanis Peters says the new terminal will allow separate passenger flows between low-fare and full service travelers. The budget airline terminal should be capable of handling 3 - 4 million passengers annually and construction must be complete by May 31, 2009. In the first six months of 2008 the airport served 1.65 million passengers, up 17.4 percent from the first half of 2007. Revenue for 2007 reached 20.8 million lats (29.5 million euros), up 27.9 percent from 2006, with profit of 2.8 million lats.

Maxima LT, operator of Lithuania's largest retail store chain, has put on hold some 130 million litas' (37.6 million euros) worth of investments going into new stores and may lay off workers amid the current economic slowdown. The company has confirmed its forecast of 6.7 billion litas' sales in Lithuania for 2008 and says it will open seven new stores in its home country this year, reports CEO Gintaras Jasinskas. There is some uncertainty concerning the need for investments in other markets, including Latvia, Estonia and Bulgaria, he added. Maxima Group reported 4.7 billion litas in sales in the first half of 2008, up 31.6 percent year-on-year.

Grain, agricultural product and machinery retailer and wholesaler Kesko Agro Eesti AS posted 2007 profits of 15 million kroons (9.6 million euros), unchanged from 2006. Sales came to approximately 1.3 billion kroons, up 6 percent. The sale of grain and seeds accounted for 28 percent of sales, agricultural and small machinery 23.7 percent and construction and forestry machinery 22.3 percent. Fertilizers and plant protection chemicals generated 13.5 percent. Annual grain contracts totalled 114,000 tons, 30 percent higher than 2006. The company expects 2008 sales to grow 10 percent on higher global commodity prices. The company's owner is Maatalouskesko OY of Finland, part of the Kesko group.