October 30 (SeeNews) - Steel radiator manufacturer Korado Bulgaria [BUL:4KX], part of Czech Republic-based Korado Group, said on Friday that its net profit rose by an annual 2% to 4.9 million levs ($2.9 million/2.5 million euro) in the first nine months of 2020, thanks to lower expenses for materials.
Korado Bulgaria lowered its total expenses to 24.7 million levs in the review period from 28.1 million levs the year before, as expenses for materials decreased to 18.2 million levs from 21.6 million levs, figures from its interim financial statement show.
The company's revenue fell by an annual 10% to 29.9 million levs in the January-September period, mostly due to lower exports to Russia, Hungary and Romania.
Sales in Russia shrank to just 96,000 levs in the review period from 1.7 million levs the year before, sales in Hungary roughly halved to 1.2 million levs, while sales in Romania fell by 1 million levs to 4.3 million levs.
The company's main client was its parent company - Korado Group, which accounted for 20.3 million levs of its sales in the first nine months of the year, slightly down from 20.5 million levs in the same period of 2019.
In terms of volume, the company's sales fell to 383,156 units from 411,274 units the year before.
Exports to EU countries decreased to 341,615 units from 350,798 units, while sales to other countries dropped to 33,942 units from 53,852 units.
Korado's domestic sales rose to 7,599 units in the January-September period of 2020 from 6,624 units the year before.
The company produced 311,491 panel radiators in the first nine months of 2020, down from 342,384 units produced in the comparable period of 2019. The lower steel panel radiator production volume was largely due to a drop in output in the second quarter of the year, when Bulgaria entered a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.
Korado's towel rail radiators output edged up to 68,145 units in the review period from 68,020 in the first three quarters of 2019, following a strong third quarter output.
At the end of September, Korado Group owned 82.15% interest in Korado Bulgaria.
Shares in Korado Bulgaria closed at a price of 5.8 levs on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange on Thursday, down 2.2% year-to-date.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)