PPC: Increased operating profit in Q1 2021

ATHEX-listed Public Power Corporation SA (PPC) on Thursday announced an operating profit of 225.6 million euros in the first quarter of 2021, on a repeated basis, up from 182 million in the corresponding trimester of 2020, reflecting lower expenditures on power purchases due to higher production by the Greek utility’s hydroelectric and natgas-fired power plants.

However, pre-tax results posted a loss of 29 million euros, sliding from profits of 3.5 million in Q1 2020, due to a one-off impact attributed to payroll payments.
Production of lignite from the utility’s pits in northern Greece fell to 26 percent of the total energy mix, down from 44 percent in the corresponding period last year.

Hydroelectric power production skyrocketed up, by 249.2 percent; 58.4 percent up from natural gas units.

Investment reported by the utility reached 90.5 million euros in the Jan-Mar 2021 period, up from 78.1 million in Q1 2020.

In commenting on the results, PPC president and CEO Giorgos Stassis underlined: “2021 is a year for stabilizing our operating profitability. Despite the improved performance in the first quarter, we expect it to recede to a lower level in the second quarter due to higher energy prices and CO2 (payments). For the entire year, we remain committed to our target of repeating 2020’s performance, in terms of recurring EBITDA…”

State-run PPC accumulated massive losses during the 2015-2019 period, almost reaching one billion euros, and even flirted with insolvency under the previous leftist SYRIZA government. One of the main pledges of the center-right Mitsotakis government, that assumed power in July 2019, was to restructure and rationalize the utility’s operation.

PPC served for decades as the vertical and horizontal electricity monopoly in the country, and still holds a dominant position in the retail and commercial power sector.