In a country that has considerable natural resources at its disposal for primary agricultural production and the exploitation of water springs, where the GDP share of agriculture is higher than 10%, the food and beverage production sector is bound to have major significance to Serbia's economy. Thanks to the country's natural predispositions, inherited developed customer awareness and relative resistance to the affects of the crisis, Serbia's food and beverage producers managed to record 13.6% growth in 2008 (more modest than the previously recorded 24%). The combined revenue of all 39 listed companies from this sector amounts to €3.4 billion. The profitability of this sector is better than the average of all companies on the list, albeit with a slight decrease in the preceding year.

Data for 2008 only partly reflect the affects of the crisis, which first hit liquidity of food and beverages producers, due to extended payment collection periods for goods delivered from distributors and traders - bridging these difficulties with new short-term indebting was not uncommon in 2008 - if we note that the combined net debt of the sector increased by about 15% and the EBITDA/net debt ratio amounts to a not-so-problematic 1.8. Of course, oscillations are far higher when individual companies are analyzed. Sojaprotein is the new sector leader, while results recorded in 2008 propelled Imlek, the leading domestic producer of milk and dairy products, into second place for the first time.

The top spot for operating revenues is occupied by the leading soya processor in the region - Sojaprotein, with recorded revenues of about €260 million. Sojaprotein is also noteworthy for its extremely high growth rate - exceeding 30% (among the sector's leaders, followed closely by cooking oil producer Dijamant and leading meat processor Matijevic), as well as the highest net debt of all observed companies - as high as €119 million, i.e. 4.2 x EBITDA, twice that of 2007. The remarkably high growth of Imlek is related to the merging of other dairies under the control of the same owner, as well as the organic growth recorded in 2008. Imlek recorded operating revenue of €247 million, with the EBITDA margin of 8.3% and a sustainable indebtedness level equal to the sector's average. The former leader, evermore diversified concern Swisslion Takovo, managed to record 16% growth last year, but it did so with one of the lowest operating revenue rates in the sector (EBITDA margin of only 3.3%), a high indebtedness level (7.5 x EBITDA) and net losses of €5.3 million. The consequences of the slightly changed relations between related company Eurolion on the results recorded by Swisslion Takovo are not completely clear. The sector's last company with operating revenues exceeding €200 million is Grand Prom, the leading processor and distributor of coffee on the domestic market and part of Slovenia's Droga Kolinska. The company's brilliant growth of 28% wasn't mainly financed by indebting from third sources (net debt of only €6.4 million), which could serve as an introductory illustration for more drastic examples of enterprises; subsidiaries of foreign conglomerates (Coca Cola, Apatin Brewery - InBev, Celarevo Brewery - Carlsberg) that are not formally indebted, though in these cases offering a completely realistic conclusion that indebting is carried out and registered at the level of the parent companies under foreign jurisdiction.

The sector's top performers for EBITDA margins are Rubin Krusevac (outstanding 35%), Apatin Brewery (26.5%) and Matijevic (24.5%), while the only operating loser, Fidelinka, holds last place on the list. Its poor results in 2008 are an indication of deeper problems that occurred in the first half of 2009.

As many as nine companies ended the year with negative net results. With the exception of Agroziv, which declared bankruptcy last year, the biggest net loss was recorded by Swisslion Takovo. Now for indebtedness. Considering the net debt/OIBDA (operating revenues before depreciation and amortization) ratio as the most certain relative indicator and disregarding the already problematic Fidelinka, the most indebted companies in the sector, relatively, are Pionir Subotica (net debt of 13.6 x EBITDA), Swisslion Takovo (7.5 x EBITDA) and Yuhor (7.3 x EBITDA).

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