Elering Invested 420 Million Kroons Last Year

Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts confirmed the annual report for the last financial year for AS Elering, the Transmission System Operator, which showed Elering's total investment in electricity transmission infrastructure last year to have been 420 million kroons. All of the company's net profit of 212 million kroons, which was up from 82 million the year before, was invested in new equipment. The company's return on invested capital was 6.2%.

The company's revenues last year were 1.39 billion kroons, up from 1.18 billion a year earlier. Elering's expenses in the past year were 1.067 billion kroons, up from 862 million in the previous year. The main cause of the increases in both income and expenses was the increased turnover of balance services, which saw 145 million kroons of revenue and 141 million of expenses. Expenses were also increased by the one-off write-down and write-off of old transmission lines following the 57-million-kroon investment in new power lines along the same routes.

The balance sheet saw major change in net working capital (current assets minus current liabilities). At the end of 2009 this figure was negative, but at the end of 2010 it had moved into positive territory and stood at 400 million kroons.

One of the most important events of the financial year was the refinancing of all the loans taken over from former owner Eesti Energia AS into a new syndicated loan of 2.93 billion kroons. Long-term loan agreements were signed for 20 years with the European Investment Bank and for 15 years with the Nordic Investment Bank for a total of 100 million euros or 1.565 billion kroons.

The European Union has allocated 50 million euros (783 million kroons) for financing the EstLink2 project, and at the end of the year Elering's owner increased the company’s equity by 91 million kroons with the aim of raising the its capacity to get credit for its extensive programme of investment for the coming years.

Elering's investments for the years 2011-2015 will total around 500 million euros, and the most important investments will be the full purchase of EstLink 1 from its current owners and the construction of EstLink 2 and an emergency reserve station.
AS Elering's shares are owned 100% by the Estonian state.