ELMŰ-ÉMÁSz profits slip in Q1

First-quarter profits of Hungarian electricity distributors ELMŰ and ÉMÁSz fell from a year earlier as revenue declined, the companies' consolidated IFRS reports published late Friday showed. ELMŰ, the electricity distributor for the city of Budapest, had after-tax profit of HUF 1.06 billion in Q1 of 2013, almost 60% down from HUF 2.61 billion a year ago. Revenue fell to HUF 57.14 billion from HUF 58.17 billion during the period. ELMŰ's electricity sales rose 13.9% to 1.21MWh. ÉMÁSz, the electricity distributor for the north of Hungary, had after-tax profit of HUF 341 million, down from HUF 436 million a year ago on revenue of 22.38 billion, down from HUF 22.52 billion. ÉMÁSz's electricity sales rose 13.2% to 481,239MWh. The companies issued profit warnings in January, after the government ordered a 10% cut for retail electricity, gas and district heating prices. Last year, ELMŰ and ÉMÁSz had a combined consolidated pre-tax profit of HUF 28.7 billion, down from HUF 38.79 billion in 2011, from a combined net sales revenue of HUF 303.6 billion which fell from HUF 331.9 billion in 2011. ELMŰ and ÉMÁSz are majority owned by Germany's RWE-EnBW while the state-owned Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM) holds minority stakes in the companies.