Ljubljana , 24 April 2003. At its 8th regular session the BTC Supervisory Board discussed the annual report on the business practice in 2002 taking into consideration the auditors’ report and the management board’s proposed profit distribution. Assessing the successful business year as development- and investment-oriented, the Supervisory Board accepted the annual report and the management’s proposal for the distribution of profit.
Upon the proposal of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board the shareholders’ committee will vote on the distribution of SIT 4,259,972,538.62 of balance sheet profit as follows:
– SIT 247,700,200.00 for dividends, which means SIT 1,100 per dividend (last year it was SIT 580);
-the financial reward for members of the Management and Supervisory Boards, amounting to SIT 27,271,183.70;
– balance sheet profit of SIT 485,001,154.92 to remain undistributed; and
– the balance sheet profit of SIT 3,500,000,000.00 to be distributed among other profit reserves.
The company’s investments
The BTC Supervisory Board paid special attention to implementation of the company’s business strategy and found that all major projects worth SIT 3.2 million in this year were under way.
The project of expanding the BTC subsidiary in Murska Sobota by an extra 7,400 m2 is almost complete. The works are being undertaken in co-operation with BTC’s business partner, Spar. The opening is expected on 26 June this year and this subsidiary will become the biggest centre of its kind in the Pomurje region. The investment is worth SIT 1.4 billion.
At the beginning of this year BTC started implementation of its logistics programme in the new central Spar logistical centre within which BTC provides logistics in supplying all Spar shops in Slovenia . The official opening of this centre is on 9 May this year.
In addition, BTC has numerous other investment plans. This autumn will witness the building of the first multi-level car park to the south of the BTC complex, with 820 parking places and worth SIT 700 million. The upgrading of Hall A is coming to a close. It will pride itself on the many improvements such as stronger lights, nicer shop windows, upgraded pavements… An improvement of the market is also expected, including construction of the roof and reconstruction of the external market area.
In the vicinity (on the east side of Hall A), the company has bought an additional 20,000 m2 of land. BTC, the KD Group and Kolosej are building a new entertainment centre on 6,000 m2 opposite Kolosej (building XVIII), which is set to be completed this year.
Growth in vacancy numbers
Due to new investments and ambitious business plans (mainly the logistical centre) the number of employees has expanded by 12% compared to 2002.
Successful business practice in the first three months of this year
The Supervisory Board discussed this year’s business results and agreed on good business activities assuring the basis on which to build the company’s development projects, thereby increasing its competitive advantage leading to further capital growth and more vacancies. In the first three months of this year revenue from the service sector has increased by 13% compared to last year. The overall pre-profit grew by 44%. Based on these figures, we can expect the business plan for 2003 will be met or even exceeded. The company’s planned overall pre-tax profit for 2003 is SIT 1 billion.
The Supervisory Board concluded that the management’s forecasts in terms of an employee-management buyout, further development, active investments and growth in employee numbers were becoming true.
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Successfully managing BTC for 10 years
The beginning of May will be marked by the 10th anniversary of the 4-member Management Board of the company which has managed to implement numerous plans that have changed the former Javna skladišča into BTC City, a contemporary business, shopping, sports and entertainment centre similar to those found in the European Union.
For more information:
Marketing and Public Relations Department BTC plc
Šmartinska 152
SI – 1533 Ljubljana
Phone: 01 585 13 19
Fax: 01 585 13 76
e-mail: maja.oven@btc.si
