Bulgartransgaz 9-mo net profit down 45% y/y

Total revenue at Bulgartransgaz dropped to 691.1 million levs in the review period from 830.5 million levs in January-September 2022, the company said in a preliminary unaudited financial statement published by parent group Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH).

Expenses for gas transmission nearly halved to 95.7 million levs from 187.6 million levs.

Between January and September, Bulgartransgaz generated revenue of 538.9 million levs from foreign markets and 143 million levs on the domestic market. This compares with a foreign markets revenue of 599.7 million levs and domestic revenue of 222.4 million levs in the prior-year period.

The bulk of the company's revenue -- or 452.6 million levs, came from the transit transmission of natural gas in the nine months through September. By comparison, it amounted to 448.5 million levs in the same period of 2022.

Last month, the Bulgarian government imposed an extra tax of 10.20 euro ($ 10.89) per MWh on Russian natural gas transiting the country.

Bulgartransgaz operates a 3,380-kilometre gas transmission network and ten compressor stations as well as nine interconnection points with neighbouring countries, namely three with Romania, one each with Greece and North Macedonia, two with Turkey and one with Serbia. It also runs the Stara Zagora interconnection point on the Bulgarian side of the Greece-Bulgaria gas link, which imports Caspian gas. A second, Kalotina/Dimitrovgrad interconnection with Serbia is expected to become operational later this month.

In the first nine months of 2023, the aggregate volumes transmitted by the Bulgarian gas grid operator to interconnection points with neighbouring countries stood at 102,081,543 MWh, the statement showed, or 4.8% more than in the comparable period of 2022.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)