Bulgaria's Stara Planina Hold Cons Jan-Nov Sales Fall 54%, Seen 52.57% Down in Full Year

Sales at blue-chip hydraulic equipment producer M+S Hydraulic, 30.9%-owned by Stara Planina Hold, fell by 54.44% to 35.562 million levs through November and are expected to drop 53.74% to 38.012 million levs through December.

M+S Hydraulic posted a net profit of 232,000 levs in the first 11 months of 2009, the holding company said in a statement without providing comparative figures.

Stara Planina Hold said its car battery unit Elhim Iskra reported a 45.79% slump in its eleven-month sales to 18.722 million levs, while sales at its other hydraulic equipment subsidiary, Hydraulic Elements & Systems (HES), declined by 60.92% to 17.156 million levs over the review period.

The holding company said it expects sales at Elhim Iskra to fall by 43.54% to 20.582 million levs in 2009, while HES is forecast to report full-year sales of 18.076 million levs, down 59.92%.

Elhim Iskra posted a net profit of 1.9 million levs through November this year, while HES had a net profit of 480,000 levs in the same period.

Shares of Stara Planina Hold last traded little changed at 1.9 levs by 0935 GMT on Wednesday. Elhim Iskra traded 3.7% higher at 1.9 levs by 0735 GMT on Wednesday.

M+S Hydraulic and HES did not trade on Wednesday. M+S Hydraulic was last traded at 5.5 levs on Friday, unchanged from the prevoius trading, while HES was last traded on December 15, when it changed hands at 4.5 levs, up 7.1%.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)