Elering’s first quarter revenue increased by 8 million

Photo: SCANPIX

Elering’s first quarter revenue increased by 8 million reaching 42.5 million euros. “In the winter months, financial results are positively affected by both the increased electricity consumption and winter tariff structure,” said Peep Soone, Financial Manager of Elering.

Elering’s financial results are significantly affected by the seasonality and a considerable part of the annual profit is earned in the first quarter of the year, Elering reported.

For instance last year the profit from the first quarter made up to 46 per cent of the annual net profit. In the second and third quarter, the size of revenue and the profitability together with transmission volumes will decrease significantly.

Operating costs grew by 3.8 million euros and reached 20.6 million euros. The main reasons behind the growth in operating costs were the increases in the purchase cost of both balance energy and loss electricity in connection with the opening of the electricity market. Net interest costs decreased by 0.3 million euros.

In the first quarter, Elering’s operating profit reached 21.9 million and net profit 20.6 million euros. The whole net profit will be used to finance an extensive investment programme in the amount of 200 million euros. This amount exceeds the operating cash flow by approximately four times and additional loan capital is needed. This year the biggest investment projects are EstLink 2, the second interconnection between Estonia and Finland, and the first unit of Kiisa emergency reserve power plant. In the first quarter, 15.8 million euros’ worth of investment was made into fixed assets, approximately the same amount as a year ago.