Neo Group Income in 2018 Exceeded 500 million EUR

Neo Group, a PET granule manufacturer operating at the Klaipeda FEZ, has recorded income of 541 million EUR in 2018, a 33% increase over the company’s 2017 results. This achievement was influenced by the completion of the third manufacturing line project, as well as expanding into new markets and diversifying the client base.

Neo Group’s goals for 2019 include matching their financial results from 2018, reaching new markets and strengthening its already established position. 2019 is planned to be a short respite because Neo Group is looking to expand its manufacturing capacity further in 2020, with detailed plans in the process of being drawn up.

Ruslanas Radajevas, the General Manager of Neo Group, says that the income growth recorded in 2018 was mostly influenced by the completion of the third manufacturing line project, which allowed the company to grow its manufacturing capacity by 50%, turning it into the biggest PET granule manufacturer in Europe.

“Other factors that influenced our income improvement were export expansion into new markets and client diversification. We paid a lot of attention to increasing sales to medium-sized clients,” says R. Radajevas.

Around 90% of the product Neo Group manufactures is sold in the European Union countries, mostly in Scandinavia and the Baltics (around 30%), Germany (15%), and Poland (10%).

“At the moment, we are preparing plans to increase our manufacturing capacity further. We expect to start implementing these plans in 2020,” says the General Manager of Neo Group.

Over the last year, Neo Group has spent 80 million EUR on products and services from Lithuanian suppliers. The company used the help of Lithuanian service providers in the sectors of logistics, loading, building, repairs, and others. At the moment, Neo Group employs over 200 highly qualified people. It is calculated that each person the company employs directly for its manufacturing efforts allows Neo Group’s partners and suppliers to create five more jobs in their own companies. Throughout 2018, Neo Group paid 86 million EUR in taxes.

Neo Group’s Research and Development Department has been actively participating in Horizon 2020, a European Commission Research and Innovation program and its circular economy development projects. The two Horizon 2020 projects Neo Group participates in are DEMETO, a project for sustainable chemical recycling of PET waste, and SYMBIOPTIMA, an initiative for a human-mimetic approach to the integrated monitoring, management, and optimization of a symbiotic cluster of smart production units. Neo Group also plans to implement a 1000 kW solar power plant project.

Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of Klaipeda FEZ, says that Neo Group is an example of a prime company that combines large scale production with state of the art R&D efforts by Lithuanian talent.

‘It is definitely a privilege to have Neo Group as the largest company of Klaipeda FEZ. Not only it leads the European PET market – it is also at the forefront of EU-wide pursuit of innovation in recyclable materials and circular economy,’ says E. Kiudulas.

Neo Group has started operating in 2005. The company invested 145 million EUR at the time. The Neo Group manufacturing plant remains the single biggest greenfield investment backed by private capital in the history of Lithuania. The overall investment, including implemented expansion, renewable energy equipment installation, and other projects is now 250 million EUR.

Neo Group belongs to RETAL Group, an international PET packaging manufacturer. Established in 1994, this company currently has 17 factories in 10 countries and exports to 60 countries around the world.

Out of the 1500 people employed by RETAL, over 600 work in Lithuania. The RETAL Group recorded income of 1.2 billion EUR in 2018, 60% of which has been generated by Lithuanian companies: Neo Group, Retal Lithuania, and Retal Baltic. The RETAL headquarters are in Limassol, Cyprus. Anatoly Martynov is the President and Ultimate Beneficial Owner of the RETAL Group.