Norofert posts a turnover of 51.5 million lei in 2021, up 107%

Bucharest, 23 February 2022 – Norofert Group, the leading Romanian producer of organic fertilizers, posts a turnover of 51.5 million lei for 2021, a 107% increase compared to 2020 and a net profit of 8.2 million lei, a 63% increase compared to 2020 result.

“2021 was a much better year for Romanian agriculture than 2020 when farmers encountered major problems caused by the strong drought that covered almost the entire territory of Romania. Although we registered enough rainfall this year, which led to good harvests in terms of quantity, overall, the harvest was not at the best level in terms of quality. Regarding our activity, we are glad that in 2021 we largely exceeded the revenue and expenditure budget. This was possible amid the increase, above our expectations, of products’ sales for all the year’s agricultural campaigns. At the same time, we have expanded our client portfolio due to the conversion of more and more farmers to organic farming. Our goal is to continue to grow this portfolio at an accelerated pace and to support the farmers in their every step related to the shift to organic farming and not only. We thank the investors and shareholders for supporting us in these two years of activity on the capital market. We would like to let them know that from 2022, Norofert is no longer a simple producer of organic fertilizers but an agri-food conglomerate that covers the whole chain, from vegetable production to inputs and the sale of the obtained productions,” stated Vlad Popescu, CEO of Norofert Group.

In 2021, input production contributed 79% to the company’s turnover, organic grain trading 11%, seed sales 9%, and the retail division contributed 1% to the total turnover. Over the past year, Norofert has launched five new products and reached full coverage of the major agricultural areas in Romania. The company also reached a debt collection rate of 99.4% in December 2021, thanks to the good agricultural year and the Risk Control department, which was set up last year and managed to have a high performance in the two agricultural seasons of 2021.

In terms of organic grain trading, Norofert expects this line of business to grow further in the coming years, considering that organic crop areas will continue to expand. The company plans to manage significant quantities of organic crops for its clients by storing and capitalizing on them at competitive prices. Therefore, in 2022, Norofert will supplement the storage capacity of the farm in Zimnicea with up to 9-10,000 tons.

Amid the encouraging growth in sales of soil fertilizer, Norofert will soon launch a dedicated production line. Soil fertilizers are an essential growth vector and are the basis of any crop, being an indispensable element of nutrition in any farm. The company will continue to develop hobby gardening products for the retail division. In 2021, Norofert added to its product line, the Ready-to-Use line, 500 ml bottles with direct spray on the plant. This new line is dedicated to home users who own decorative plants and will no longer need additional dilution for application.

Due to the good progress of the Norofert Shop online store over the past year, the company will continue its partnership with Agrocosm to ensure that its products can also be found in the retail stores. This partnership aims to increase Norofert’s retail division. Also, in 2021, the company finalized the website for the online store dedicated to the US market while managing to deliver the first stock of goods there Norofert expects to start online sales in this market no later than March of this year, following the completion of OMRI certification (certification required for the marketing of organic products) for the full range of hobby gardening products.

Norofert Group is listed on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange as of March 3^rd, 2020, and the shares traded under the symbol NRF. The company has a market capitalization of over 135 million lei. As of October 11^th, 2021, NRF shares are included in the BET-AeRO index developed by Bucharest Stock Exchange, holding the second-largest weight in the index.

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About Norofert SA

Norofert Group (BVB: NRF) is the leading Romanian producer of organic agricultural products and an experienced player on the Romanian farming market. Established in 2000 as a family business, the company was initially the importer of high-quality fertilizers from Western markets to Romania. In 2015, with Vlad Popescu taking up the reins, Norofert started producing bio-fertilizers, organic phytosanitary products such as insecticides, fungicides, seed and foliar treatments using its original recipes. Between 2017 and 2019, the company grew rapidly after developing its own technology called BioChain and launched a premiere in the agricultural sector, the effervescent tablet. Today, Norofert is a group of companies that include a line for organic farming (Norofert Organic), a line for conventional agriculture (Karisma) and a hobby gardening and small organic farmers line (Norofert Fito). On March 3, 2020, the company floated on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Norofert shares are traded on the AeRO market under the “NRF” symbol.