October 31 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian thermal power plant (TPP) Maritsa 3 [BUL:MR3] said that its standalone net loss widened to 69 million levs ($35 million/35.3 million euro) in the first nine months of 2022, from 16 million levs in the same period of last year, due to a surge in expenses.
The revenue of coal-fired TPP Maritsa 3 decreased to 20.5 million levs in the review period from 21.15 million levs a year earlier, the company said in an interim financial statement on Friday.
The power plant operator's expenses grew to 86.3 million levs in January-September from 37.4 million levs in the comparable period of 2021. Expenses for raw materials were 62% higher year-on-year at 26.4 million levs, whereas cost of goods sold amounted to 5.76 million levs against no costs a year earlier.
The item "Other expenses" more than tripled, to 46.55 million levs from 13.9 million levs, although the nature of these expenses was not specified in the financial statement.
In September, Maritsa 3 had to temporarily halt operations, for the second time in 2022, due to a series of recent violations of environmental regulations which threatened the functioning of all of the country's coal-powered facilities, the caretaker energy minister said at the time.
The 120MW TPP Maritsa 3 is located in the town of Dimitrovgrad, in southern Bulgaria.
Shares in TPP Maritsa 3 last traded on the BaSE market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) at a price of 134.62 levs, bourse data shows.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)