Nevertheless, the company’s total revenues amounted to E1.24 billion in Q1 2007, an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. This was driven by revenues from energy sales, which increased by 3.8% to almost E1.2 billion.
Public Power Corp (PPC) added that its operating expenses (excluding depreciation) increased by 11.2% during Q1 2007 over the same period in 2006, as a result of increased expenditure for natural gas and energy purchases.
As a result of the significant decrease in the company’s hydro generation, PPC was forced to substitute the power that would otherwise have been procured through this generation method with natural gas and energy purchases.
This led the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to fall by 20.1%, from E294.8 million in Q1 2006 to E235.6 million in Q1 2007.
Takis Athanasopoulos, PPC’s chairman and CEO, said: I am relatively satisfied with our performance during Q1 2007 as the profitability of the company which was affected by a single factor – namely very low snow and rain fall – would have exceeded last year’s levels provided that the hydro generation remained at those of Q1 2006.
Although PPC booked a weak Q1 2007, according to Energia.gr, analysts had expected the company to post a greater, 61% drop in net income.
