At the assembly of BTC, d. d., on 31 May 2021 which was attended by the company’s shareholders, whose assets amount to 95.37%, the operating activities for the year 2020 were presented. At the assembly, all the proposed resolutions were adopted; the shareholders Ajdacom, d. d., and Invest Point, d. o. o., introduced a counter-proposal which, like all other decisions, was adopted unanimously. The proposal of both shareholders referred to the increase of the dividend from 9.70 to 12.00 Euros gross per share, which equals to a 24% increase compared to last year. The company’s balance sheet profit of 2020 amounting to 8,577,601.42 Euros will be used for: dividends to shareholders in the amount of 12.00 Euros gross per share, which in total amounts to 2,669,808.00 Euros, while the balance sheet profit in the amount of 5,907,793.42 will remain unallocated; its use will be decided in the future years. At the assembly, a discharge was given to the Management Board of the company and the information on the resignation of Andrej Repina from the position of the member of the Management Board at his own request was accepted. Also, Marko Žehelj was appointed a member of the Management Board, starting on 18 June 2021 and ending at the end of the term of office of the current Management Board, i.e. on 1 July 2025.

In 2020, BTC’s business operations were successful, despite the almost half-year closure of the shopping centre and the consequent loss of 6 million Euros in revenue. However, seeing the company generates almost half of its revenues in the field of logistics, which during the epidemic even increased its business volume and exceeded the planned net profit of logistics, the company managed the cash flow more easily and was able to help more vulnerable business partners during the epidemic. In 2020, the company’s net revenues amounted to 66.5 million Euros and the net profit to 5.9 million Euros. Despite the epidemic, strategic partnerships with major retailers and other business partners have been strengthened, while at the same time, the measures of a stable and active financial policy have been implemented. Regardless of the limited business operations and the reduction of business revenues, the company implemented the planned investments in the amount of 9 million Euros, which proved to be good opportunities in the sense of the company’s long-term development. The implemented investments present a good foundation for the company’s future growth. At the peak of the epidemic, new names appeared on the list of retailers, e.g. the supplier of sports equipment Extreme Vital and a shop located in the Crystal Palace which offers different brands, e.g. Peak Performance, Polo Ralph Lauren, etc. During the epidemic, IKEA also saw the opening of its store. Last year, more than 13,000 square meters of business premises for retail and service providers were opened and renovated in BTC City, with at least additional 8,000 square meters planned to be renovated by the end of this year. The company also invested significantly in several other areas: purchasing properties for expanding the shopping centre in Murska Sobota; technologically modernising its own ecological station along the Letališka cesta road; redesigning Shopping Arena 8 to serve as the head office of the Chinese corporation Hisense, which chose Ljubljana among the several potential locations in Europe. Shopping Arena 18 has been completely renovated and modernised with a brand new bowling, karting and laser games area. An important milestone in the development can be seen in the investments made to modernise the equipment and to digitalise the logistics by introducing new software and a robot for collecting and commissioning shipments. The company will continue to modernise its logistics in the future, also by introducing the so-called 4PL and 5PL services, with which business partners in the field of logistics will be able to manage their supply chains even more efficiently.

In 2021, with planned investments in the amount of 7.8 million Euros, the company expects 73 million Euros in net revenues. An ambitious development strategy up to the year 2025 is also in the final phase of adoption, with which the company expects a 20.00% growth and at the same time emphasises that it will be facing a very dynamic period of the development of all business activities; the company will continue to develop towards an innovative ecosystem and new digital and innovative content, as well as towards an innovation hub that will ensure the growth and development of start-ups.

In cooperation with its partner, the company will build a high-rack 32,000-square-meter warehouse on 60,000 square meters of land in Zalog, which will be sufficient to consolidate the existing areas of smaller dislocated subsidiaries which are currently not regarded as optimal for the company. Last year, BTC, d. d., and its business partner Spar Slovenija also signed a new contract regarding the management of logistics for a period of ten years, which indicates a more intensive growth of the logistics activity in BTC.

An online shopping catalogue with special-offer products will be launched on the BTC City online platform according to the needs of consumers and will in one place combine the special-offer products of providers with online shops in the area of BTC City Ljubljana, especially since BTC’s infrastructure is more than suitable for this new type of sales.

In the past year, despite its limited business operations, the company remained faithful to its social responsibility principles and maintained its support for socially responsible projects in various fields, i.e. sports, science and culture. In 2020, the year marked by the epidemic, BTC managed to organise important international projects, among which Marathon Franja BTC City surely stands out, all this under strict safety measures for preventing the spread of the epidemic.

Mag. Damjan Kralj                                                          Jože Mermal

Chief Executive Officer at BTC, d. d.                                 Chairman of the Board of Directors at BTC, d. d.