Elektro Q1 net profits up 610% to US$28mn

Brazilian power distributor Elektro posted net profits of 69.6mn reais (US$28mn) in the first quarter of 2005, up 610% from 9.8mn reais in the same year-ago period, the company said in a statement to the São Paulo stock exchange. Gross revenue rose to 815mn reais in the first three months of 2005, a 16% increase from the 704mn reais in the same year-ago period, while operating profits rose more than threefold to 107mn reais from 30mn reais. Ebitda rose to 187mn reais in the first quarter of 2005, up from 146mn reais in the same year-ago period, the company said. The higher revenue was a result of a 29% average tariff increase since overall power sales fell 8% to 2,310GWh in the quarter-to-quarter comparison. The main reason was a 22.5% decline in sales to industrial clients, who account for 33% of the company's power sales. Industrial clients opted to buy power in the non-regulated market. Sales to rural clients rose 8%, sales to commercial clients were up 7.9% and sales to residential clients grew 5.5%. Higher regulated sales were spurred by economic growth and above average temperatures, the company said. Elektro distributes power 5.3 million people in 228 towns in southeastern São Paulo state. The company is controlled by creditors of bankrupt US energy company Enron.