May 11 (SeeNews) - Romanian natural gas producer Romgaz [BSE:SNG] said on Thursday its net profit rose 15.7% to 566 million lei ($135 million/124 million euro) in the first quarter of 2016, as lower gas demand was offset by higher power sales and higher income from storage activities.
The company’s performance was mainly helped by an increase of 21.39% in electricity sales to 46.9 million lei in the first quarter of the year and by a rise of income from storage activities by 71.08% to 58.7 million lei, the company said in a financial report submitted to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
For the first quarter, electricity supplies increased by 92.28% thanks to favourable market conditions. According to the data offered by Transelectrica, Romgaz's market share increased from 2% in the first quarter of 2016 to 3.61% in the first three months of 2017, the report showed.
Romgaz produced 1.33 million cubic meters of natural gas in the first quarter, down 3% on the year, as import of natural gas increased massively, by 460% to 675.5 million cubic meters.
Total investments dropped 15% to nearly 91 million lei in the period under review, negatively impacted by suspending certain works due to unfavourable weather conditions, extension of terms required for permit and land access, required authorization and permits for exploration wells,surface facilities,demolition of buildings and railway required for the construction of Iernut power plant.
In 2016, Romgaz's net profit dropped 14.2% year-on-year to 1.02 billion lei, mainly affected by a drop in natural gas domestic demand, a fall in natural gas prices and strong competition from imported gas.
In April 2016, blue chip investment fund Fondul Proprietatea sold its entire remaining 5.85% stake in Romgaz for $137.2 million.
The company's main shareholder now is the Romanian state with a 70% stake, while the balance of 30% is traded on the BVB.
Shares in Romgaz traded up 1.59% at 32 lei by 1304 CET on Thursday on the BVB.
(1 euro=4.5481 Romanian lei)