Below the link are Nordea’s comments on Atria’s new strategy.
Nordea highlighted, among other things, how Atria, relying on its new strategy, aims for stronger growth and a stronger position in the Northern European food markets. Additionally, the comment also noted that the company intends to develop its core operations, invest in new growth areas, and renew its operations for the future, meaning there were hardly any new observations compared to Inderes’ comment.
It’s very quiet here. Is everything okay/no new news/is it too boring?
Atria is not exactly known for being media-friendly, as it is
Could it therefore be considered a dividend stock, or does it also have upside potential?
In my own portfolio, Atria is a key cornerstone in the dividend plan. I haven’t budgeted for any increase in the share price. At some point, the share will have paid back its purchase price in dividends, and then the compound interest effect will only strengthen.
Atria’s breakdown into business areas is, to my knowledge, by country, not by product group. So I would also be interested to know how large a part of the business, for example, convenience food is, which I believe is a growing segment. Atria has recently invested in convenience food with new products and packaging, and there is certainly room for growth here, especially if manufacturing, marketing, and distribution could achieve synergy across countries. But I genuinely don’t know how big a part or how profitable convenience food/fast food is for them overall.
If the importance or growth of convenience food doesn’t play a role, then will there be any other growth potential in meat processing besides purchase prices and production methods?
At least the demand for ready-made food has grown nicely. Pancakes, in particular, sell very well, and their production has shifted from 2-shift work to 3-shift work.
Great to see a fresh discussion here!
Atria indeed published an updated strategy in mid-September, which Rauli commendably wrote about while I was on vacation. I find the new strategy interesting and distinctive in its industry due to, among other things, the following factors: a) The pursuit of international synergies, b) A new growth target, and c) Healthiness and the expansion of the raw material base. These themes will certainly not bring any quick wins in terms of earnings growth, nor is their long-term implementation guaranteed. However, the strategy is ambitious and long-term. HKFoods’ recently published strategy focused concisely on basic operations and improving profitability, compared to which Atria’s strategy is clearly different. In my view, the stock markets look at these companies with a fairly short time horizon, with results at the core. Selling a growth strategy and a longer perspective to investors therefore requires concrete successes in growth from Atria.
Let’s start with international synergies, which in my view clearly stands out from the industry mainstream. In the food industry, production has long been concentrated from regional units to national ones. The next logical step in efficiency and centralization thinking would be to serve an even larger area (e.g., the Nordic countries) through a single factory. However, in meat and ready-meal products, this type of export is relatively minor. If Atria could serve Swedish consumers from its Nurmo factories, this would offer volume growth and a higher scale, which could strengthen the company’s competitiveness. My understanding is that Atria is optimizing its new production units to also serve the Swedish market, for example, in terms of packaging and logistics.
I am not entirely without reservations about internationalization, as Atria, for example, has faced significant profitability challenges in its Swedish operations, which has also led to write-downs of intangible assets. If Atria could organically develop its operations and genuinely utilize synergies between countries, the company’s investment profile could strengthen compared to the present.
The new growth target of over 2 billion euros for 2030 is relatively close to our forecast (EUR 1.978 billion). It indicates a growth-oriented approach that the company states such a goal aloud. Perhaps at the CMD (November 21st) we will get more concrete details on how the target will be achieved, but I would assume that increasing international sales will have its own role in the target.
Expanding the raw material base indicates that the company is following long-term market trends, even though in the short term, plant-based proteins have not been particularly strong in growth (and competition is tough). Atria is, in my view, quite pragmatic regarding this theme, and I do not expect major moves in this area in the near future.
Ready meals are a clearly growing product category for Atria, as for many other players in the industry. Atria does not report the share of ready meals in its revenue, but based on market shares, it could be concluded that it is around 20% in Finland. HKFoods reports the share of meals and meal components as 18% (last 12 months). In Atria Finland’s retail market, the share of ready meals is as high as 33%, but Atria’s relative market share in this category is lower than, for example, in meat products. In ready meals, there are numerically more competitors than in meat processing (e.g., Saarioinen and many smaller ones).
Here is a new company report from Pauli after the positive profit warning. 
*Atria’s positive profit warning issued on Monday was partly expected by analysts, but we still made moderate forecast upgrades for the coming years. Investments in recent years have improved the company’s efficiency, and minor headwinds in the operating environment have not prevented the company from continuing to grow its earnings level. The company will present its fresh
Here are Pauli’s pre-earnings thoughts, as Atria reports its Q3 results on Thursday, October 23.
Based on the company’s raised guidance on October 13, we conclude that Q3 performed relatively well, and we forecast stable earnings development relative to the strong level of the comparison period. Market headwinds such as rising beef prices and the Estonian swine fever appear to have been only a minor nuisance, but there is still uncertainty regarding the future impact of China’s pork tariffs. Organic growth has been low this year, but we estimate demand will moderately pick up during 2026, supported by a gradual economic recovery.
A new phenomenon has emerged where live cattle are bought from Europe and taken abroad for rearing. There is a shortage of beef, and even though prices in Finland have risen, they are still so far behind the rest of Europe that the operation is profitable. As stated in the article, the animals are likely to be halal slaughtered and the meat sold to Muslim countries.
Transporting animals abroad is not entirely problem-free, as transport times are inevitably long, and the spread of swine fever with animal transport vehicles is a real risk.
As a phenomenon, it is marginal in Finland’s beef production chain, but if it becomes more common, it will cause cost pressures for meat processing companies through increased prices of intermediary animals.
The company raised its adjusted operating profit guidance for 2025 and now estimates it to be higher than the previous year (EUR 65.4 million). The guidance raise is based on strong earnings development in the early part of the year and well-performing sales in the third quarter. Uncertainty for the rest of the year is still caused by China’s pork tariffs and the effects of African swine fever in Estonia.
Publication of the Interim Report
Atria Plc’s CEO Kai Gyllström will present the company’s interim report earnings development in a webcast today, October 23, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. The webcast can be viewed on Atria’s website at Sijoittajat. During the webcast, questions can be submitted in writing via chat. A recording of the press conference and the presentation material will be available on the same day at Osavuosikatsaukset.
Here are Pauli’s quick comments on the Q3 results.
Atria reported good results for Q3 today, in line with our forecasts. The surprising aspect of the report was the higher-than-expected revenue growth, especially in the Finnish market, which could indicate a pick-up in consumer purchasing behavior. Revenue grew in all units, and profitability in Sweden improved slightly more than we anticipated. The market still faces some risk factors related to, for example, animal diseases and geopolitics, but the outlook for the rest of the year is, in our view, reasonably good.
Here’s also the Q3 company report from Pauli.
The demand outlook in Atria’s largest market, Finland, improved with the Q3 report. We expect moderately positive demand-driven earnings development for next year, influenced by factors such as the impact of Chinese tariffs on the intra-European competitive situation and the development of cost levels. Atria is a stable and reasonably profitable company, whose share valuation is still affordable. We reiterate our ‘add’ recommendation and raise the target price to 15.5 euros (previously 15.0 €).
@henrielo has made an analysis of Atria after the Q3 results.
Atria’s key figures have improved rapidly because the company generates a good level of free cash flow and is in an interim phase of investments.
Free cash flow after investments improved to 37 million euros in January-September from 23 million last year. Interest-bearing net debt has decreased in 12 months from 279 million to 251 million euros. The net gearing ratio has decreased from 66.5 percent to 56.
Net financial expenses in January-September were only 8.3 million euros, compared to 12.3 million in the comparison period. The average interest rate of the loan portfolio appears low at approximately 3.3 percent. According to financial management, about half of the loan is tied to a fixed interest rate and half is variable-rate.
Atria’s equity ratio target is 40 percent, while the current figure is approximately 45. The return on equity for the rolling 12 months is a good 11 percent for the industry.
Subheadings:
Note.
The author owns Atria shares.
IR-ikkuna is a channel for background and analytical articles and other interesting investor information from SalkunRakentaja and Sijoittaja.fi’s corporate partners. The article is part of a commercial collaboration with the company. The article does not contain investment recommendations.
An interesting phenomenon is that when Atria publishes a good interim report, HkFoods rises.
The same products, customers, and consumers rock both boats 
Here are Pauli’s preliminary comments as Atria presents its new strategy at its Capital Markets Day this Friday
Atria will present its new strategy, announced in September, at its Capital Markets Day on Friday, 21.11. from 10-13. The strategy partly includes familiar continuity, such as pursuing growth in poultry and convenience foods, supported by the industry’s largest industrial investments. As a new interesting theme, we see the pursuit of international synergies, which deviates from the industry’s traditional operating model based on local production. Actions aimed at strengthening the Swedish and Danish businesses are also of interest, even though these countries have less weight in the group’s turnover.
Atria’s CMD starts in half an hour, and its webcast can be followed live here. The CEO’s interview will be published later today.
And here is the promised CEO interview.
Atria presented its new strategy at the company’s Capital Markets Day. At the core of the strategy is to optimize efficiency, especially concerning red meat and meat products. The largest growth investments, in turn, are directed towards growing market segments: ready meals and poultry. Atria’s CEO Kai Gyllström tells more in an interview with analyst Pauli Lohi.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:13 New strategy
01:15 Synergies between countries
02:11 Nurmo factory investments
02:34 Atria’s strengths
03:46 Challenges in red meat
04:41 Acquisitions as part of the new strategy
06:18 How to achieve financial targets?
07:53 Why is Atria an attractive investment?