May 18 (SeeNews) - Nuclearelectrica, the operator of Romania's sole nuclear power plant (NPP) Cernavoda, said that its net profit dropped 6.4% year-on-year to 766.5 million lei ($166.7million/154.1 million euro) in the first quarter of 2023, driven by lower electricity sales volumes and higher taxes.
The company's operating profit decreased by 13.6% on the year to 956.1 million lei, Nuclearelectrica said in an interim financial statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, last week.
Operating income rose by an annual 13.5% to 2.12 billion lei in January-March, mostly due to a 14% annual increase in the weighted average price of the electricity sold in the first quarter. Operating expenses, less depreciation and impairment grew by 7.2% on the year, reaching 322.7 million lei.
Nuclearelectrica generated about 2.77 GWh of electricity in the first quarter, down 4.9% on the year. Electricity sales revenues rose to 2.093 billion lei in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 1.844 million lei in the same period of last year.
The company invested 73.6 million lei in the first three months of 2023, representing 5.5% of the 1.345 billion lei allocated for investment this year. In 2022, the company had a significantly lower investment budget, of 702.8 million lei, of which 99.8 million lei were invested during the first quarter.
Nuclearelectrica' net profit soared 166.8% last year, reaching 2.764 billion lei.
The Cernavoda plant, located in southeastern Romania, has two reactors of 700 megawatts each, which meet roughly a fifth of the country's electricity needs.
Nuclearelectrica shares traded 1.12% higher at 49.45 lei by 1611CET on Thursday on the BVB.
(1 euro =4.9731 Romanian lei)
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