Ritter SPORT

Performance indicators

2023: Loss of the Russian "daughter" - 478 million rubles

Ritter Sport Chocolate LLC, a Russian subsidiary of German chocolate manufacturer Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG, at the end of 2023, recorded revenue in the amount of 8.2 billion rubles against 7.5 billion rubles a year earlier. Net loss in 2023 reached 478 million rubles, while in 2022 net profit was measured at 1.1 billion rubles. Such data were published in early April 2024.

Ritter Sport Chocolate LLC reported on its financial performance Sheets with reference to the system's data. SPARK-Interfax Leading analyst at Veles Capital Artem Mikhaylin, in a conversation with the publication, noted that in 2023 the cost Russia of Ritter Sport products increased by 50% compared to 2022. The rise in price led to a fall in gross profit by 81%. The costs of producers grew due to the rise in the cost of raw materials and complex logistics - from the supply of cocoa beans to Africa through the Red Sea blocked by the Houthis, to the delivery of chocolate from Europe to. Russia In addition, weakening led to losses, ruble believes Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics.

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ritter-sport.com

CEO of Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG Andreas Ronken, in a conversation with the German agency DPA, said that the share of Russian business in the group's revenue is 10% of the group's revenue, and in 2023 this figure decreased due to the weakening of the ruble. Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG continues official deliveries to Russia by 2024, since otherwise the German group would have to greatly reduce purchases of cocoa beans from African farmers, which would lead to their ruin. The company sends profit from sales in Russia to "charitable organizations" in Ukraine: in 2022, 1.5 million euros were allocated for these purposes, in 2023 - about 990,000 euros, Ronken said.^[1]

History

2024: Ritter Sport chief: I received death threats for continuing to work in Russia, but we remain

Andreas Ronken, CEO of German chocolate maker Ritter Sport, said at the end of May 2024 that he had received death threats for the company's decision not to leave the Russian market after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. However, despite the threats, Ritter Sport continues its activities in Russia.

In an interview with the German edition of Focus, Ronken said that he would be ready to do the same again. He explained the dilemma between the company's principled position and commercial responsibility:

Russia is our second largest market, if we left there we would have to lay off 200 people at the Waldenbuch facility.

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DPA

According to Ronken, Russian children also like to eat chocolate, and the war cannot be won by imposing restrictions on food products, including chocolate.

The head of Ritter Sport stressed that the decision to stay in Russia was correct, despite criticism. Instead of leaving, the company stopped additional investments in the Russian market, no longer places ads there and donates profits from Russia to humanitarian aid organizations. By the end of 2023, Ritter Sport's contributions to the Berlin non-profit organization Ukraine-Hilfe were estimated at almost €1 million.

According to Focus, Russia is the second largest market for Ritter Sport. The Russian subsidiary of the German chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport Chocolate in 2022 accounted for about 10% of the company's total revenue - 7.5 billion rubles of revenue and 1.1 billion rubles of net profit. However, in 2023, the financial results of Ritter Sport Chocolate significantly worsened due to a sharp increase in the cost of production against the background of rising prices for cocoa beans, and the company received 478 million rubles of net loss.^[2]

Notes