The Chairman of Board of Iktinos Hellas S.A. talked about the Group’s recent and crucial investment movements, the significant improvement of their performance, the new quarry in Peloponnese and the large tourist project in Crete.
Iktinos Hellas S.A., a strongly export-oriented company, has gone ahead with three major investment movements during the last 12 months, while they are waiting to be licensed for another quarry in Peloponnese till the end of the year.
The Chairman of Board and Chief Executive Officer of the listed group, Mr. Evangelos Chaidas, during his recent interview for Euro2day.gr spoke about the prospects of these projects, για τις προοπτικές των συγκεκριμένων projects, while at the same time he referred to issues that concern stock market investors, such as the development of this year’s economic performance, the company’s policy to reduce dependency on the Chinese market and and the stages of implementing the complex tourist project in Crete.
Regarding the funding of Iktinos Marble three-part investment programme, Mr. Chaidas pointed out that the main funding source for their investment movements is the significant profitability of the years 2017 and 2018 and the group’s policy to redirect the balance of profits, after the return of the relative profit percentage to the shareholders, to the next investment targets. This was also the tactic through which the company has implemented the three major investments it had announced: the moderniσation and strengthening of the production potentials of the former Lazaridis Marbles plant in the industrial area of Drama of 10 million euros value, the purchase of the remaining 80 % of Latirus shares (a complex tourist development in Crete) for about 14 million euros and recently the acquisition of the management of the white dolomite marble quarry in the prefecture of Drama for twenty years from Kavala Marbles for 7 million euros.
Regarding the new quarry, Mr. Haidas said it was idle and in order to start operating it should be equipped with machinery. This will be mainly found by the redistribution of the equipment of other quarries of the company, and secondarily by purchasing some new machinery. The company’s goal is that the quarry will begin producing to some extent during this year, while it will be actually functional in 2019, when it will be able to achieve annual revenue of around 10 million euros. At the same time, Mr. Haidas revealed that the company is expected to obtain licence of an important quarry in the Peloponnese, while there is the intention of exploiting other deposits as well, without having something to be announced.
Responding to rumors that wanted the company to focus on the sale of its wind farm, Mr Haidas denied the intention to withdraw from the investment by underlining that the park is operating normally.
The acquisition of 100% of Latirus and the investment in Crete, which is meant for complex tourism, could not be missed on the agenda of the interview, with Mr. Haidas explaining that the first stage of the implementation of the investment programme is about a residential area where hundreds of villas are planned to be built. “Before the house sales begin, it is imperative that we construct the required infrastructure (eg lighting, roads, drains). This investment costs around 5 million euros and is in the process of auctioning. Then, we are licenced to create a five-star hotel and a boat shelter. We are in the process of finding an investor, who will agree to buy it either now or after the conclusion of the project”, the Chairman of Iktinos Hellas S.A. said, adding “Later (preliminary environmental conditions have been approved) there is the possibility of developing a residential area (two hundreds of houses and a golf course) in an area of 2,000 decares”.
Commenting on the economic performance of Iktinos Hellas to date, Mr. Haidas noted that during the first half of 2018, the group’s turnover has increased by almost 50%, mainly due to increased production and the continuous high demand of Iktinos marbles abroad. To a lesser extent, the start-up of the newly acquired plant in Drama also attributed. “Our upward trend in sales is expected to be continued in the second half of the year,” said Mr. Haidas, who also mentioned the company’s attempt to limit its dependence on the Chinese market, confirming that the specific market now refers to 50% of the total exports of the company, as Iktinos products are exported to 90 countries.
Source: euro2day.gr
