Akola Group commits US$15.2M to poultry upgrades in Lithuania and Latvia

EUROPE – Baltic agrifood company Akola Group is allocating US$15.2M (€13m) to modernise its poultry operations in Lithuania and Latvia as part of a broader capital expenditure programme.

The funds will be directed to the group’s poultry businesses, which include Vilniaus Paukštynas and Kaišiadorių Paukštynas in Lithuania as well as Kekava Foods in Latvia.

This poultry investment sits within a wider spending plan, under which the Lithuania-based group intends to invest a total of US$50.4m (€43m) across its operations during the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

According to Akola, the planned upgrades will cover production process updates, expanded incubation capacity, tighter biosecurity controls and projects linked to environmental performance and energy efficiency.

In the 2024 to 2025 financial year, Akola’s poultry activities in Lithuania and Latvia generated sales of about US$380.3m (€325m) and delivered a gross profit of roughly US$80.7m (€69m).

Moving into the current year, the company said poultry output levels in the first quarter of the 2025 to 2026 financial year, which ended on 30 September, remained broadly unchanged from the previous period.

Mažvydas Šileika, Akola Group’s deputy chief executive for finance and investments, said demand trends continued to support the poultry segment’s contribution to overall performance.

He also said that recurring avian disease outbreaks across Europe had increased the need for preventive measures, particularly those aimed at protecting production continuity and reducing supply chain disruption.

Akola said the largest share of the poultry investment will be concentrated at Vilniaus Paukštynas, where work to update production processes is already under way.

At that site, the fresh poultry plant is being equipped with artificial intelligence-based carcass preparation systems, while the incubation facility is being refurbished to stabilise hatching cycles.

Once completed, the upgraded incubation operation is expected to support annual output of up to 45 million day-old chicks.

Of the total poultry allocation, around US$10.5m (€9m) is earmarked specifically for projects in Lithuania, covering plant upgrades, capacity increases and environmental initiatives.

Group performance snapshot

The poultry business operates within Akola’s food production division, which also includes flour and bread mixes as well as ready-to-eat food manufacturing.

For the first quarter of the 2025 to 2026 financial year, Akola reported consolidated revenue of approximately US$461.9m (€393.9m), representing a 2.6% increase year on year.

Sales volumes during the period rose 7.4% to 791,415 tonnes, while operating profit climbed 43% to about US$31.4m (€26.8m).

Net profit, however, fell by 53.4% to roughly US$22.8m (€19.5m).

Within the quarter, the food production segment recorded revenue of about US$143.9m (€123m), up 15% compared with the same period last year.

Elsewhere in the group, the farming division posted revenue of around US$14.0m (€12m), gross profit of US$1.76m (€1.5m) and a small operating loss.

Akola said dairy operations were stable during the quarter, while pet food output increased 4% despite a sharp fall in resales of extruded products.

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