September 19 (SeeNews) - Czech energy company Energo-Pro said that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at its Bulgarian power distribution and supply subsidiary Energo-Pro Varna surged to roughly 60 million euro ($64.1 million) in the first half of 2023 from 11.2 million euro a year earlier, due to a one-off adjustment.
The Czech company saw a record EBITDA result, with the amount in the first six months of 2023 exceeding the EBITDA that the group achieved for any full year before 2021, chiefly on the back of the Bulgarian distribution operations, Energo-Pro said in an interim financial statement on Monday.
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Energo-Pro owns and operates 14 hydropower plants (HPPs) in Bulgaria, ten of which comprise four cascades. Its distribution subsidiary Energo-Pro Varna is the electricity utility for the northeastern part of the country.
"The exceptional performance was driven primarily by the distribution and supply business in Bulgaria, which recovered strongly from the one-off impact of a hedging termination last year," Energo-Pro CEO Petr Milev said.
However, EBITDA from power generation in Bulgaria declined 30% on the year to 22.8 million euro, in spite of more favourable hydrological conditions and higher generation volumes, Milev added.
The average sales price of generated hydropower on the free market in Bulgaria fell 39% in the first half of the year, as the high energy prices recorded at the same time last year levelled off.
Net power output from Bulgarian HPPs ticked up by an annual 7% to 250 GWh in the January-June period. Along with an 8% rise in Turkey, this contributed to Energo-Pro increasing its total generation by 2% year-on-year to 1,444 GWh in the reporting period.
Distributed volume in Bulgaria edged down 3% on the year to 2,812 GWh in the first six months, while supplied volume declined 7% to 3,337 GWh. Grid losses slightly increased, to 6.4% from 5.8%.
Energo-Pro acknowledged the potential for higher market volatility in the latter part of 2023, but nevertheless revised its 2023 EBITDA guidance higher, to between 290 million and 310 million euro.
($ = 0.9354 euro)