E.ON Gaz Romania, the gas supply company included in the portfolio of the German-based E.ON Ruhrgas utilities group, has registered a turnover worth 1.3bn RON (381m euros) in the first half 2007, down 12% against the same period last year.
"The decline was primarily due to the high temperatures registered in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year," stated company representatives.
Natural gas suppliers witnessed opposite results in comparison with energy suppliers, which benefited from this year's high temperatures and registered turnover increases of more than 10%. The very mild winter of 2006-2007 reduced the levels of gas consumption for heating, which had a significant effect on major gas suppliers' turnovers.
In H1, the company reported a net income worth 116m RON (35m euros), an increase of around 10% against the same period last year. The company says the increase was because of the more rigorous standards in cost control
Additionally, in the first half of the year, E.ON Gaz Romania operated investments worth 75m RON (22.5m euros). Out of these funds, more than 50% were used for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the natural gas distribution system.
This year, the company's gas stocks are expected to amount to 970 million cubic metres of gas, worth around 550m RON (165m euros).
Besides Distrigaz Sud (Gaz de France), E.ON Gaz Romania is one of the largest gas suppliers providing natural gas to more than 20 counties in northern Romania and to around 1.3 million customers. Since the middle of this year, the company has been operating through 2 distinct firms: E.ON Gaz Romania will deal with natural gas supply (trading) services and E.ON Gaz Distributie will handle distribution (transport via the natural gas distribution system).
Distrigaz Sud, the other major natural gas supplier and
