Nuclearelectrica, the operator of
Romania's sole nuclear power plant Cernavoda, said on Monday itsnet profit
dropped 68%to a preliminary 137 million lei($35.2 million/30.9million euro)
in 2014, mainly hurt by a newtax introduced at the beginning of the
year.
Theresult, however,ishigher than the 99 million lei net profit
projected for 2014 by the company in September.
Operating expenses rose
2%to 1.634 billion lei, mainly due to atax on special constructionsintroduced
in January 2014. The tax on special constructions owed by the company for 2014
amounts to89.4 million lei, Nuclearelectrica said in its preliminary, unaudited
financial statement for 2014.
Earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 32% on the year to606 million
lei.Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) dropped 61% to 180million
lei.
Nuclearelectricasoldabut 10.84 million MWh of electricity last
year, down from 10.99 million MWh in 2013,including3.74 million MWhon the
regulatedmarket.Revenues from electricity sales fell to 1.69 billion lei from
1.83 billion lei in 2013.
Commenting on Nuclearelectrica's financial
results, Raiffeisen Bank said in a note to investors on Monday that the
company's sales were slightly below the bank's estimates.
"Given the
preliminary net profit, and assuming a pay-out of 75%, we see a 2014e DPS
[dividend per share] of 0.33 lei, implying an yield of 4.2%." The bank's
analysts see the company's results as neutral for its share price.
The
Cernavoda plant, located in southeastern Romania,has two reactors of 700
megawatts each, which cover roughly a fifth of the country's power
needs.
Blue chip Nuclearelectrica was trading 0.38% up at 7.83lei by
0935CET on Monday.