February 15 (SeeNews) - Romanian gas transmission company Transgaz [BSE:TGN] said on Friday its 2018 net profit fell 14% on the year to 498.9 million lei ($119 million/105 million euro).
Operating revenues dropped 6% on the year to 1.64 billion lei in 2018, mainly because of the lower revenues from the commodity charge, capacity booking and international gas transmission, Transgaz said in an unaudited fourth-quarter report.
Financial revenue declined by 143.7 million lei due to the transfer of the provision for the impairment of Transgaz`s share in the share capital of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International.
Operating costs were 3% lower at 1.05 billion lei in 2018, as the company registered savings mainly on lower consumption and technological gas loss and lower prices for auxiliary materials as well as lower expenses for personnel, maintenance and transmission.
Expense overruns were registered in the following categories of costs: maintenance and transmission, taxes and duties, provision for employees benefit, Transgaz said.
In January, the European Investment Bank (EIB) said it is lending a further 138 million euro ($157 million) to Transgaz to finance the construction of a pipeline which will link Romania’s natural gas resources with both the national gas transmission network and the BRUA gas transmission corridor, as well as for the Ungheni-Chisinau interconnection project.
Transgaz shares traded 2.42% higher at 338 lei on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as at 1025 CET on Friday.
(1 euro=4.7451 lei)