Eurohold Bulgaria Says 9-mo Cons Net Profit More Than Quadruples, in Talks To Sell Medical Equipment Unit

The group's sales rose 19.6% on the year to 209.1 million levs, the holding company said in a statement late on Monday.

Eurohold has said it expects a consolidated net profit of 33 million levs for 2008 and sees it growing to up to 68 million levs in 2010. Consolidated revenue is seen at 372 million levs this year and is projected to reach 418 million levs next year and 627 million levs in 2010.

The group said it was in talks to sell its medical equipment unit Etropal as part of plans to dispose of its production assets and focus on financial operations. "The first phase of the sale is about to be completed. It will be followed by the shortlisting of the preferred potential buyers," the company said.

Eurohold Bulgaria said it expects the sale talks to wrap at the end of the first quarter of 2009, adding that the current financial crisis is having no negative effect on the process.

Following are figures from Eurohold Bulgaria’s preliminary consolidated income statement filed with the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) (in millions of levs):

The holding company reported a 13.9-fold increase in preliminary consolidated net profit to 82.6 million levs for 2007, with 57.7 million levs of the profit total generated by the transfer of shares in Eurohold Bulgaria's insurance companies Euroins and Sveti Nikolay Chudotvorets to the holding company's subsidiary Euroins Insurance Group. Discouting the one-off effect from the transfer, the group's consolidated net profit came in at 24.9 million levs last year, 157% higher from a year ago.

The group is active in financial services, car dealing, manufacturing and high technologies.

Shares of the holding company, part of the broader BG40 index of the BSE, closed 5.3% lower at 1.78 levs in a volume of 77 541 shares on Tuesday.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)