May 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian diversified group Synergon Holding [BUL:SNRG] said that its consolidated net profit fell to 5.5 million levs ($3 million/2.8 million euro) in the first quarter of 2023 from some 6 million levs in the same period of last year, chiefly due to a decline in revenue.
The company's revenue in January-March went down to 228 million levs from 242.8 million levs a year earlier, Synergon said in an interim financial statement on Monday.
Sales of goods slipped by 6% on the year to some 222.9 million levs mainly due to a decrease in the prices of goods sold by Synergon's subsidiaries and the emerging trend towards an overall decline and return to pre-2022 levels, the company said.
At the same time, operating expenses narrowed to 221.3 million levs from 236.7 million levs on the back of lower costs for hired services and costs of goods sold.
Synergon Holding was set up in 1996 as a privatisation fund under Bulgaria's voucher privatisation programme. The fund was transformed into a holding structure the following year. It has direct ownership in 19 local subsidiaries as well as indirect stakes in subsidiaries and affiliated companies, such as Interia Terstie, Synergon Petroleum, Synergon Imoti and Synergon Energy Skopje in North Macedonia.
Shares in Synergon last traded on May 25 when they closed at 0.955 levs on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, bourse data show.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)