August 16 (SeeNews) - Romanian power grid operator Transelectrica [BSE:TEL] reported on Thursday a net profit of 98 million lei ($24 million/21 million euro) for the first half of 2018, flat year-on-year.
Financial results were negatively influenced by a 10% drop in transmission prices as compared with the first half of 2017, Transelectrica said in a filing to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
EBITDA shrank 19% on the year to 230 million lei in the first half.
Transelectrica's first-half revenues fell 9% on the year to 560 million lei, while total operating expenses rose 31% to 1.21 billion lei.
Electricity production and consumption increased by 1% and 2%, respectively, in the first half of 2018 as compared to the same period of 2017, while net exports were down by 20%.
Transelectrica's net profit plummeted 90.3% on the year to 26 million lei in 2017, mainly due to lower income from electricity transmission services.
At the end of July, Transelectrica completed the upgrade of its Suceava station following a 24 million lei investment from the company's own funds.
In May, the company inaugurated a 400 kV interconnection line between Romania's Resita and Serbia's Pancevo following investment of over 81.5 million lei.
In April, the power grid operator received the first tranche of 2.2 million euro ($2.5 million) of a 27 million euro grant from the European Commission for the construction of a new electricity transmission line.
The Romanian finance ministry owns some 59% of Transelectrica.
Transelectrica shares traded 2.13% lower at 23 lei as at 0937 CET on Thursday.
(1 euro=4.6590 lei)