ELMŰ, ÉMÁSZ profits drop on falling revenue, crisis tax

First-half profits of Hungarian electricity distributors ELMŰ and ÉMÁSZ, both majority-owned by Germany's RWE-EnBW, fell as revenue dropped and a "crisis tax" on energy companies bit into the bottom line, the companies' consolidated IFRS reports published late Wednesday show.

ELMŰ, the electricity distributor for the capital, had after-tax profit of 11.1 billion, down 22.7% from the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.9% to HUF 123.5billion. Material costs fell at a slightly faster rate, dropping 5.7% to HUF 96.4 billion, but "other operating expenditures" were up 52.6% at HUF 6.4 billion.

ELMŰ said the crisis tax cost it HUF 1.1 billion in H1.

ELMŰ sold 2,917,329 MWh of electricity in H1, down 1.2% from the same period a year earlier. Sales to households edged down 0.6% to 1,627,946 MWh and non-retail sales were down 2.0% at 1,289,383 MWh.

ELMŰ had total assets of HUF 199.7 billion on June 30, 2011, down 2.7% from the end of 2010. Net assets inched up 0.6% to HUF 123.9 billion during the period.

ÉMÁSZ, the electricity distributor for the north of Hungary, had after-tax profit of HUF 5.6 billion in H1, down 41.3% from the same period a year earlier. Revenue was down 4.5pc at HUF 46.9bn. Material costs fell at about the same rate, dropping 5.0%to HUF 35.3 billion. The other operating expenditures line showed HUF 2.9 billion, up a sharp 52.7% from the base period.

ÉMÁSZ said the crisis tax cost it HUF 377 million in H1.

ÉMÁSZ sold 1,027,601 MWh of electricity in H1, down 6.0pc from the same period a year earlier. Sales to households fell 1.2pc to 700,710 MWh and non-retail sales were down 14.8% at 326,891 MWh.

ÉMÁSZ had total assets of HUF 95.0 billion on June 30, 2011, down 3.8% from the end of 2010. Net assets were up 2.1% at HUF 63.5 billion.