Guacolda posts US$16mn profits for Q3

Chilean thermo generator Guacolda posted third quarter net profits of 10bn pesos (US$16mn), turning round losses of 6.82bn pesos from the same period last year, the company said in a statement Thursday. Physical power sales rose 8.5% in 3Q03 from 3Q02, mainly as a result of an increase in consumption by regulated customers and sales on the spot market due to a high plant dispatch level, the statement said. According to the company's filing to securities regulator SVS, sales by volume increased 8.57% in the first nine months to 1,741GWh, although sales by value increased by only 2.8%, to 49.3bn pesos. Higher fuel costs on the international market led to a fall in operating profits over the period, the statement said, adding that improved non-operating profits were largely due to the effect of exchange rates on total company debt. Guacolda has a 304MW plant in Region III, near the northern limit of the central grid (SIC).