Bulgarian Car Battery Maker MonBat Jan Pre-tax Profit Plunges 71.4% Y/Y

Bulgarian blue-chip car battery maker MonBat said on Wednesday its January pre-tax profit fell by 71.4% on the year to 1.1 million levs ($721,000/566,000 euro) as a result of a temporary halt in gas supplies to its recycling unit.

The halt in gas supplies reduced the output of the lead recycling unit. The company was then forced to buy lead at a price significantly higher compared to the cost at which it is produced by its recycling unit, MonBat said in a statement.

A contractual row between Moscow and Kiev led to a two-week halt of Russian gas deliveries to Bulgaria in January. As a result gas supplies to industrial consumers were rationed.

MonBat generated net sales revenue of 9.743 million levs in January, down by some 50% from the year-ago period. The drop is due both to weaker sales volumes and to lower lead prices, the company said.

MonBat’s net profit rose 53.4% to 26.7 million levs in 2008. The company raised its net sales by 25.7% to 181 million levs last year.

Shares in MonBat, part of the blue-chip index SOFIX of Sofia bourse, advanced 2.20% to 3.68 levs on Wednesday. The statement was issued after the end of the trading session.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)

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