Greece’s power utility shrinks first-half loss on lower provisions

Greece’s Public Power Corp. (PPC) on Tuesday reported a smaller first-half loss on the back of lower provisions for bad debt.

The electricity utility’s loss before taxes fell to 26.9 million euros in the January-to-June period from a loss of 249.5 million euros a year earlier.

PPC, which is 51 percent state-owned, has been forced to make provisions for overdue bills left unpaid in austerity-hit Greece in recent years.

Provisions dropped considerably after the utility hired an adviser to help it collect the arrears.

Sales fell by 6.8 percent to 2.2 billion euros as PPC, once a monopoly, lost share in the retail market under a bailout-mandated plan Greece adopted to open up the sector to competition.

Under its 2018-2022 business plan, Public Power Corp. will spend about 3.9 billion euros to boost its renewables and network.

Source: ekathimerini.com