Power producer OGK-5 said Friday that its first-quarter net profit more than doubled to 2.5 billion rubles ($86 million) as demand for power picked up on the back of a broad economic recovery.
The result was helped by a 37 percent rise in operating revenues to 14.126 billion rubles because of higher power output and prices, the company, controlled by Italy's Enel, said in a statement.
Net power output rose 15.5 percent to 11,226 gigawatt-hours, "driven by the growth of energy consumption due to the improvement of the general economic conditions on top of the weather conditions, with the particularly low temperatures registered," it said.
Total power sales stood at 12,716 gigawatt-hours, 17.8 percent more than a year ago, with the share of nonregulated sales rising to 62 percent from 29 percent in the first quarter of 2009 on the back of ongoing liberalization of the power market.
The company also said earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization grew 41 percent to 3.2 billion rubles.
Net debt totaled 16.7 billion rubles, down 4 percent from the end of 2009, the firm said adding that it financed its first-quarter capital expenditures from its own cash flow.