At its 12th regular session on 22 April the BTC Supervisory Board discussed the annual report on business in 2003 taking into consideration the auditors’ report and the management’s proposed distribution of profit. Assessing the successful business year as development- and investment-oriented, the Supervisory Board accepted the annual report and the management’s proposed distribution of profit.
On the proposal of the Management and Supervisory Boards the shareholders’ committee will vote on the subject of the distribution of SIT 970,649,000 of balance sheet profit as follows: SIT 1,600 gross per dividend totalling SIT 359,878,000, the financial reward for members of the Supervisory Board amounting to SIT 9,721,000, balance sheet profit of SIT 101,050,000 is to remain undistributed, while the balance sheet profit of SIT 500,000,000 is to be distributed among other profit reserves. In 2002 the shareholders were paid SIT 1,100 in dividends per share.
The BTC Supervisory Board paid special attention to implementation of the company’s business strategy and found that all major projects worth SIT 5.6 billion in this year were under way.
In the first three months the company has invested SIT 644,327,000 in the construction of Water City and the multi-storey car park. Since October last year when construction of Water City started, the company has invested the total of SIT 1,255,831,000.
The Supervisory Board discussed the business results of the first three months of this year and agreed these good business activities provide the basis on which to build the company’s development projects, thereby increasing its competitive advantage, allowing further capital growth and growth in employee numbers. In the first three months of this year, revenue from the service sector has expanded by 10% compared to last year. The overall pre-tax profit grew by 30%. Based on these figures, we can expect the completion or even exceeding of the business plan for 2004. The company’s planned overall pre-tax profit for 2004 is SIT 1,250,000,000.
The Supervisory Board concluded that the management board’s forecasts in terms of employee-management buyout, further development, active investments and growth in employee numbers were being realised.
The Supervisory Board discussed the management’s report on the company’s business activities in its five-year mandate finishing on 18 May. A four-member Management Board led by Jože Mermal, the President, and Helena Petrin, Andrej Repina and Marko Žehelj has managed the company since 1999 and succeeded in implementing numerous plans and investments that have changed the company’s architectural and ownership structure so as to give it a new image and substance. This period in office has brought further progress and the business results have shown constant growth in profit and share indexes. A clear sign of their strategy is the creation of BTC CITY in which a total of EUR 69 million has been invested in five years. Important investments involve the building of the Millenium sports hall, the logistical centre, a new business building, a new commercial centre in Novo mesto, the expansion of the Murska Sobota subsidiary and the start of construction of a multi-storey car park and the Atlantis Water City, to name a few. Besides new projects, the upgrading of former warehouse space (60,000 m2), infrastructure and older premises (such as Hall A) took place. All of these activities have contributed to the fact that BTC currently employs 3,850 people and growth in employee numbers is expected, with 4,100 employees at the beginning of 2005. The Management Board has also reorganised and increased the capacity of logistics activities.
The Board has prepared a business strategy for the next five years envisioning the company’s further development and international marketing activities to attract foreign visitors. After upgrading buildings XVII and XVIII and the construction of Water City, BTC CITY will have become the biggest business, shopping, sports, entertainment and cultural centre in all of Europe. The strategy shows the company’s vision of upgrading current activities in order to gain more profit. The company will continue to invigorate logistics activities, mainly with respect to offering a complete logistics service to individual business partners.
Based on the Management Board’s strategy, the Supervisory Board unanimously offered a new five-year mandate for members of the Management Board, Jože Mermal, the President, and Helena Petrin, Andrej Repina and Marko Žehelj.
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
