OREANDA-NEWS. Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (hereinafter - ESO), identification code 304151376, registered office placed at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total number of registered ordinary shares issued by company is 894 630 333; ISIN code LT0000130023.

Electricity and gas distribution company ESO, which is a part of the largest Lithuania’s energy group Lietuvos Energija, UAB (hereinafter – Lietuvos energija), in the first three months of operation, increased revenue and attracted a record number of applications for gas connection. After merging of LESTO AB (hereinafter – LESTO) and joint stock company Lietuvos Dujos (hereinafter – Lietuvos dujos) into ESO in the beginning of this year operating costs fell by almost 7 percent.

ESO revenue in the first quarter of 2016 amounted to EUR 182.5 million – 3.3 % up compared to LESTO and „Lietuvos Dujos“ consolidated revenue in January-March in 2015, when it amounted to EUR 176.541 million. Revenue increased due to higher electricity and natural gas distribution volumes.

In the first quarter of this year ESO allocated 2.375 billion kWh of electricity and 2.9 billion kWh of natural gas - respectively 6.4 % and 9.4 % more than the first quarter 2015.

„From the very first days of our operations we immediately took up some strategic tasks, such as our objective to shorten the time for connection to electricity and gas networks, continue improving the network reliability indicators by investing in smart and leading-edge technologies, and further improving the quality of the services and customer servicing.  Because of the lower temperatures as compared to the previous seasons, the last winter significantly increased the electricity and gas distribution volumes. We believe that gas consumption volumes will continue increasing, as we have been observing an increased interest of our residents and businesses in cheaper gas. The record-high number of applications to introduce gas is just another indication of the trend, as within the three months we received more than 2,000 applications, i.e. twice as much as during the same period last year“ - , says Chairman of the Board and CEO Liudas Liutkevi?ius.

According to the CEO of ESO, after all the customer servicing operations have been transferred to the common service centre Gil?, since the beginning of the year our customers using electricity and gas can easier handle any issues within a single platform. The improvements further triggered a start of the smart app Gil? that enables our customers to avail themselves of the services anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.

During January-March of 2016 ESO EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) amounted to EUR 48.9 million – 4.6% less compared to the first quarter of 2015. EBITDA margin decreased by 3.22% points and amounted to 26.78%.

The first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015, ESO operating expenses decreased 6.8 % and amounted EUR 24.9 million.

The net profit of ESO for the first quarter of 2016 amounted to EUR 30.8 million – 14.1 % less than in January-March of 2015 when LESTO and „Lietuvos Dujos“ consolidated net profit amounted to EUR 35.859 million. ESO net profit fell due to reduced the difference between the regulator and the real electricity of the purchase price in 2016. Compared to 2015, the regulator set the price in 2016 decreased by 14 %, whereas the real average electricity purchase price - by 1 %.

During three months of 2016 ESO investments in the electricity and gas distribution networks amounted to EUR 18.053 million - 4.3 % less than during the first quarter of 2015. Lower investments were resulted by cold weather in the beginning of the year, therefore planned investment projects have been moved to other quarters.

During three months of 2016, electricity, natural gas purchase and related services costs made up EUR 108.7 million and, compared with the same period of 2015, increased by 12.2 %. This was mainly influenced by increased electricity transport volumes and increased transmission cost.

During the compared period electricity supply reliability increased: during three months of 2016 with the influence of natural disasters (“force majeure”) the system average interruption duration index (SAIDI) per customer amounted to 35.97 minutes. This is 1.68 minutes less compared to the same period in 2015. The system average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) with the influence of natural disasters per customer reached from 0.28 – 0.04 times less compared to 2015 January-March.

ESO shares are quoted on the Nasdaq Vilnius. The state-owned energy company Lietuvos Energija owns 94.98% ESO shares, remaining shares are traded on the stock exchange.