Inter RAO first half net profit soars nine-fold to 49.8 bln rbls

Russia\'s state-controlled power trader Inter RAO UES saw its first half 2011 net profit skyrocket 858 percent year-on-year to 49.8 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) to IFRS, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The company\'s revenue grew 23 percent in the first six months of 2011 to 253.89 billion rubles, while operating profit increased 20 percent to 14.1 billion rubles. \"The main driver behind significant growth of the group\'s financial results in the first six months of 2011 was consolidation of assets acquired through additional issue of Inter RAO UES stock and through M&A deals,\" the company said in the statement. EBITDA rose 48 percent to 24.4 billion rubles, while EBITDA margin went up to 9.6 percent from 8.0 percent the previous year. Capital expenditures amounted to 15.9 billion rubles in January-June 2011, a 155 percent growth compared with the same period in 2010. Electricity production rose 9 percent to 62.205 billion kWh.