Bulgaria's Stara Planina Hold Cons Sales Fall 57% in Jan-Oct, Seen 55% Down in Jan-Nov

Sales at blue-chip hydraulic equipment producer M+S Hydraulic, 30.9%-owned by Stara Planina Hold, fell by 54.91% to 32.2 million levs through October and are expected to contract 54.67% to 35.4 million levs in the 11 months to November, the holding company said in a statement.

M+S Hydraulic posted a net profit of 192,000 levs in the first ten months of 2009, the statement said but provided no comparative figures. In October alone the company booked a 96,000 levs net loss.

Stara Planina Hold said its car battery unit Elhim Iskra reported a 48.32% slump in its ten-month sales to 16.5 million levs, while sales at its other hydraulic equipment subsidiary, Hydraulic Elements & Systems (HES), declined by 63.73% to 14.8 million levs over the review period.

The holding company said it expects sales at Elhim Iskra to fall by 45.66% to 18.8 million levs through November while HES is forecast to report eleven-month sales of 16.7 million levs, down 61.97%.

Elhim Iskra posted a net profit of 1.6 million levs through October this year, while HES had a net loss of 28,000 levs.

Shares of Stara Planina Hold closed 1.08% higher at 1.88 levs in a volume of 110,288 on Wednesday.

M+S Hydraulic surged 3.51% to 5.9 levs as only 50 shares changed hands. HES lost 1.0% to 4.95 levs as 1,027 shares were traded. No Elhim Iskra shares were traded on Wednesday.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)