Bulgaria's Speedy grows 9-mo cons net profit 14% y/y

Operating revenue in January-September leapt by 19% on the year to 329.9 million levs, Speedy said in an interim financial statement. Domestic sales grew by 18.8% year-on-year, reaching 175.1 million levs, whereas sales on foreign markets rose by 19.2% to 149.1 million levs.

The total number of completed deliveries went up by 11.6% in annual terms to 52.1 million in the nine months through September.

Lower consumer confidence and high inflation impacted Speedy's international deliveries in all segments, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and other EU countries, the company said. Shipments between Bulgaria and Romania, overseen by Speedy Balkan, marked a decline in the last quarter, whereas shipments from and to Greece reported a strong performance in the review period.

Speedy's operating expenses came in at 299.5 million levs in the first nine months of this year, compared to 250.3 million levs a year earlier. The rise was chiefly due to higher costs for external services and remuneration, which added an annual 20% and 19%, respectively.

Shares in Speedy last traded on October 26 when they closed at 133.00 levs on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, bourse data show.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)