January 26 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian battery manufacturer Elhim Iskra [BUL:ELHM] reported on Thursday a standalone net profit of 324,000 levs ($180,608/165,659 euro) for 2022, down from 379,000 levs in 2021.
The decline comes as the company’s operating costs widened to 46.6 million levs last year from 39.3 million levs in 2021, Elhim said in a financial statement.
The company booked costs of materials of 36.5 million levs in 2022, up from 28.99 million levs a year earlier. The rise was mainly due to larger quantities of processed lead materials and their higher prices, Elhim said.
On the bright side, revenue increased to 47.02 million levs from 39.8 million levs thanks to higher sales of traction and semi-traction storage batteries.
Looking ahead, Elhim Iskra forecast sales of 12.09 million levs for the first quarter of 2023, which represents year-on-year growth of over 12%. Sales are expected to reach about 25 million levs in the first half of 2023, up 10.8% on the year.
The guidance is based on the assumption that the unfavourable consequences of the war in Ukraine will have a minimal impact on the company's performance.
As at CET 1452 on Thursday, shares in Elhim Iskra traded flat at 1.10 levs on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)