Light posts US$11mn Jan-Sep. earnings

Brazilian power distributor Light posted net profits of 31.1mn reais (US$11mn) in the first nine months of the year, turning around a 549mn-real loss in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement late Friday. A reduction in debt servicing costs (down 37.5%) and operational expenses (down 3.9%) were behind the company's improving finances, the statement said. Light, which is controlled by France's state power company EDF, reported gross power sales revenues of 4.3bn reais in the first nine months of the year, a 6.2% year-on-year increase. Power rates that were on average 5.8% higher in the first nine months of this year accounted for most of the increase, since power consumption fell 2.6% in the same comparison. Industrial power consumption fell 8.8% and residential power consumption dropped 0.4%, while power usage by the commercial sector and by government entities rose 0.8% and 3.4%, respectively. Light distributes power to over 3 million people in the city of Rio de Janeiro and 30 surrounding towns.