Rovinj, 20 May 2008 – Last night's General Meeting of Adris Group ended the holding of annual general meetings of all companies within the Group. Namely, the meetings of Rovinjturist, Inovine, Istragrafika, Hrvatski duhani, Tvornica duhana Zagreb and Maistra were held yesterday, throughout the day.

Elaborating on the last year's business results and this year's business plan, the Chairman of Adris Group, Ante Vlahović M., said that the previous business year had been marked by the double-digit growth in all key business indicators: the total income had increased by 16.8%, business income by 18.3%. the sales revenue  had increased by 9% and operating profit of the Group by 22.7%. Net profit amounted to HRK 670 million and was 11.3% greater than the profit realised in 2006. The costs of restructuring and one-off items influencing the business result amounted to HRK 190 million and in the last three years to more than HRK 600 million.

Mr. Vlahović pointed out the information on the further growth of the Group's capital, amounting to HRK 5.5 billion, which had increased 2.2 times in the previous six years.

On the subject of strategic business units, the Chairman of the Board reminded of the successful closure of two factories in Kanfanar, which had increased the productivity in cigarette production by more than 20%. He stressed that the rise in total sales and in the growth of main TDR brands - Ronhill and Walter Wolf. TDR exported more than 50% of its production. Due to an increasing number of markets, TDR's organization was becoming more and more complex and expensive, but „if we operated only on 3 markets, we would be even more profitable, but also more vulnerable. We would renounce the possibility to grow and develop”, Mr. Vlahović concluded.

 

Speaking of the Group's objectives in the upcoming period, Mr. Vlahović pointed out that TDR intended to grow out of regional into a pan-regional company in the tobacco business segment with the aim of increasing its presence on certain EU markets, the Near and Far East.

 

As to tourism, he believes that Maistra should become a leading tourist company, "the synonym of high-quality tourism with an internationally recognizable brand. Our wish is to add high quality to the existing quantity, which is the prerequisite for improving total business results", Mr. Vlahović said, underlining that the purchase of the Sv. Katarina island from an foreign company „strengthens our self-respect as the shareholders and of the Group as a whole“.

In accordance with the Assembly's decision the realised profit of Adris Group d.d. amounting to HRK 490,071 has been allocated to reserves provided for by the article of association, and its shareholders will receive a payment of HRK 7 per share out of unallocated retained profit realised from Company's business operation until and including the business year of 2000. The dividend will be paid on 27 June 2008 according to the state and account statement of shareholders issued by the Central Depository Agency (Središnja depozitarna agencija - SDA) on 30 May 2008.

Finally, the Meeting issued a letter of release to the Members of the Management and Supervisory Boards and extended the current Supervisory Board’s mandate for another year.