May 12 (SeeNews) - Nuclearelectrica, the operator of Romania's sole nuclear power plant (NPP) Cernavoda, said on Thursday that its net profit soared to 818.9 million lei ($175 million/166 million euro) in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 234.4 million lei in the like period of 2021, driven by higher energy prices.
Operating profit more than doubled year-on-year to 1.1 billion lei as of end-March, as operating revenues too more than doubled, Nuclearelectrica said in an interim financial statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
Operating revenues expanded to 1.87 billion lei in the first three months of 2022, mostly due to a 165% surge in the weighted average price of the electricity sold in the first quarter.
Nuclearelectrica generated about 2.789 million MWh of electricity in the first quarter, up 4.9% on the year.
Electricity sales revenues rose to 1.84 billion lei in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 683.5 million lei in the same period of the previous year.
The company invested 99.7 million lei in the first three months of the year, representing a little over 14% from the 702.8 million lei allocated for investment this year. In March, the government announced it is leaving half of dividend with the company in a move to support its investment plans. In 2021, the company had a significantly lower investment budget, of 433 million lei.
In February, Nuclearelectrica said that its shareholders approved a 1.85 billion euro ($1.9 billion) project for the refurbishment of the Cernavoda NPP Unit 1. In October 2020, Romanian and US authorities signed cooperation and financing agreements for an $8 billion project for the modernisation of Unit 1 and the construction of Units 3 and 4.
Nuclearelectrica' net profit rose 45.5% on the year in 2021, reaching 1.02 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. The Romanian state owns 82.5% stake in the company.
Nuclearelectrica shares traded 1.33% higher at 42 lei by 1228 CET on Thursday on the BVB.
(1 euro =4.9480 Romanian lei)
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